[jjdeu]

So what happens when you buy the full game through the demo? It gets unlocked? Or do you get redirected to an online shop?
If you get to unlock it, what does it cost? I'd buy it this way if it is any cheaper than here (NL) in the shops. It's still around 40 Euros IIRC, which i find too expensive...
Tx for any answers :-)

Cheers, JJ

[lostwolfe]

Originally Posted by tsa

i think your idea of a demo that demonstrates the features of a game is not so bad.

...and i wish more companies would do it. i like to see a reasonable demonstration of a game, but when i get that first level all installed and i play through it, and then the actual game forces me to /replay/ the first level, [without managing to actually save the data and move it across to the real game, when i have it] that just builds frustration. sure. it whets your appetite for the game, but for all that, i think there are slightly more entertaining ways of selling games - developers just don't seem to see them.

i'm usually a fairly calm person about this sort of thing, but my ire sort of spilled over there, [and i apologize if i came across sounding more angry than i really was.] but i really /do/ think funcom are crossing the line. it's one thing to offer a "full download" service on a thing like gametap. it's another on the web. [where, as stated down a post, files were broken/the install was corrupt.]

yes - it's wonderful that developers are coming up with all these really neat graphics and sounds and so on, it's another to put that gargantuan three point five gigabyte "demonstration" up on the internet and expect everyone to have access to it.

surely developers do not live in such a deep, dark hole that they believe every user has access to the kind of money, computers and bandwidth they do.

i will be fairly honest right here and say that the three point five gigabyte "demonstration" felt a lot like a slap in the face.

Originally Posted by kuze

...but in times when more or less cheap broadband is not an issue in most countries, it is understandable that funcom is aiming for the larger audience.

certainly, but this is doing themselves a disservice. remember, if /i/ felt slapped in the face, i'm going to pass that on by word of mouth. sure, funcom lost one customer, but it might snowball into others. it's [definately] harder to cultivate new buyers, but when you give those new buyers [even in first world countries with decent internet connections] hurdles to jump over to get just the demonstration of your game, you're not making friends or influencing people.

if we are being a part of a "dying" subgenre of gaming, then the obvious thing for a company like funcom to do is find innovative ways of getting interested customers. even /if/ you're in the first world and even /if/ you have access to a demonstration that size, versus, say, watching a movie with your bandwidth, chances are you're probably going to watch the movie. why? because it's less prone to breakage. because not all the stars need to be aligned correctly to watch the movie. [don't have the right video card? sorry, but you can't play this game...] and so on and so forth.

if funcom really /want/ to shoot themselves in the foot like this, they're welcome to it. it's their business decision to make, but...if it's creating a hornets nest of unhappy customers, [who will soon be ex-customers, if they get slapped in the face repeatedly like that] then it is funcom who will find their people without work. the customers will take their money elsewhere. [to telltale, say, or the ankh folks.]

Originally Posted by jacog

... soon as they fix the durn thing i will download the dreamfall trial as i would like to see it, and have never seen the game in any of the local stores.

it is worth your time. i was /greatly/ dissatisfied with it at first, but after i had time to think about the game, i thought it was done just right.

Originally Posted by jacog

on that point... where is a good place to buy games here?

there isn't any such thing, sadly. most of the chains, as you point out, haven't a clue. [to the point where a "large chain" didn't understand what i was on about when i was asking about world of warcraft and timecards for the game. there's also the delightfully hilarious story i get to tell every so often about a guy looking for "broken sword four" in what is, basically, a children's toy store - the guy behind the counter had /no/ idea what he was talking about...]

the best you can do is buy through the internet, since that seems to be the only way to bypass the store clerks who haven't a clue what they're selling. [this is equally true of record stores, but i won't derail the thread further than i have already. the last time i went hunting for nine inch nails disks, it was a bit like pulling teeth.]

[climbs off of very high horse.]

please forgive me if i'm sounding a bit more curmudgeonly than usual, but this whole issue is fairly frustrating and could be managed far better than it presently is.

[tsa]

Again, nice rant lostwolfe. Though you're right about the demos, I think offering games for download is very neat and should be done much more. Who needs the box if you can just download the stuff (provided you have the resources to do that)? If I had known Funcom would provide a 'demo' that turns out to be the whole game, I wouldn't have ordered the game in a box and have it shipped all the way from America to the Netherlands to save costs. Software is ridiculously expensive here...

[tsa]

Originally Posted by jjdeu

So what happens when you buy the full game through the demo? It gets unlocked? Or do you get redirected to an online shop?
If you get to unlock it, what does it cost? I'd buy it this way if it is any cheaper than here (NL) in the shops. It's still around 40 Euros IIRC, which i find too expensive...
Tx for any answers :-)

Cheers, JJ

If you want I can burn the demo on a DVD for you and send it to you. You can try it out yourself then. Just send me a PM.

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by jacog

Heh, down with Telkom, boo hiss etc (does weird Italian back-of-hand-under-chin thing - what the hell IS that?).

On that point... where IS a good place to buy games here?? Most of the chains here just get random stuff from the supplier and shelve it with no regard for what it is they get, and no sense of variety. Most don't even know what stock they are getting.

That's crazy!!!

and if it means anything to you, I have no prejudice against where you live... unless you have an American accent...

[jacog]

Originally Posted by Terramax

and if it means anything to you, I have no prejudice against where you live... unless you have an American accent...

Er, thanks... I think... HEY my wife lives here too, and she IS American.

[lostwolfe]

Originally Posted by tsa

again, nice rant lostwolfe. though you're right about the demos, i think offering games for download is very neat and should be done much more.

i don't have a problem with folks offering their games for download, in fact, i'd encourage it, because it /does/ bypass the middleman - the people making their game get their money and there's no store inbetween to skim off the top.

what i balk at is a stunt like the one funcom's presently pulling. if it is a "demonstration" of a game, it should be marked as such. but it really sounds [to me, anyhow] like it's the full game "lurking" as a demonstration. [as near as i can tell, other folks have suggested that the name of the file itself ends with _demo.exe.] this is kind of false advertising.

and yes, i'm aware that i'm nitpicking and dancing on the head of a pin, but this particular demonstration has just pushed too far, in my humble opinion.

jacog mentions that south african chains really don't understand what it is they're doing and terramax responds with:

Originally Posted by terramax

that's crazy!!!

but true. a couple of years back, when the pc version of "magic:the gathering, battlegrounds" came out, i wanted a copy. i called up one of the large chains and asked them about it. they had no idea of what i was talking about. i eventually got someone to order it for me at the store, but they then lost my details and never called me when they got one [!] lone copy of the game into the store. they /still/ had no idea they were selling it. i went into the store, i spied it on the shelf and i walked away to find a service representative to find out what he knew about it. [i only knew, at that point, that it was not turn-based, like the card game is] the store clerk looked at me like i'd just landed from outer space.

so, it's not as far fetched as you think. tonight, i had to explain to a store clerk what the distinction was between "quiet" internal fans on a computer and the standard twenty one dba. [a sound level measured in decibels]

technical computer stuff [or anything involving knowledge of something other than flat windows and perhaps word processing] is /absurd/ in this country.

[tsa]

We are completely of the same mind lostwolfe

[tsa]

Originally Posted by jjdeu

So what happens when you buy the full game through the demo? It gets unlocked? Or do you get redirected to an online shop?
If you get to unlock it, what does it cost? I'd buy it this way if it is any cheaper than here (NL) in the shops. It's still around 40 Euros IIRC, which i find too expensive...
Tx for any answers :-)

Cheers, JJ

This morning I clicked the button 'buy full version' on the startup screen. The program then contacts the Softwrap server, and you can choose to pay for the game in USD, GBP, or euros. I was startled to find that the game costs either 39.99 USD or 39.99 euros or 39.99 GBP! That's ridiculous; a GBP is 1.4 euros, and a euro is 1.3 USD! I bought the boxed game at JustAdventure for 29.95 USD plus shipping. Dreamfall without a medium and a box and paper manual should be cheaper than that. I live in the Netherlands and have to pay import taxes at the border for the boxed copy. I'll keep you informed about how much I had to pay eventually. I ordered Dreamfall together with three other games at JustAdventure because I think that even including the taxes I have to pay, and the shipping costs, I save quite some money in this way.

You can choose between PayPal and a credit card for paying the game. I proceeded to the credit card screen. Here I was greeted by the familiar entries for name, address, etc. There was also a space where you could fill in a coupon code. I have no idea what that is but I guess you can give coupons to friends and they can buy games with them. You can also still review your choice to pay in euros, dollars or pounds. Finally there is a checkbox 'Multi license purchase' that you can click if you want more than one license.

Because the game is already on its way to me I didn't proceed any further. I don't think Funcom will sell many copies of Dreamfall in this way because of the high price. Can anyone tell me how much Dreamfall costs in an American shop? Here in the Netherlands you pay around 43 euros. And don't expect to find it in a shop somewhere; you will have to order it.

[Havrepus]

So maybe the price is high for this game, I still think it is a great way of distribution of games worldwide.

[Kolzig]

The trial version sold the game for me, I went and bought the the game from a local shop a few days ago.

The trial was limited to the point where the old previews always ended, at least I think so. I remember AG's preview being about the same part of the game as this trial was.

Thanks Funcom, you got yourself a happy customer once again.
Possibly today I shall start playing Dreamfall.

[tsa]

May I ask how much you paid for it Kolzig?

[Kolzig]

25€, it was on sale after the Christmas.

[Havrepus]

That's not bad at all! I will consider that for future titles from FunCom.

[Kolzig]

If you notice my earlier post, I didn't buy it through digital distributing. I bought it from a local shop, as I like owning something real and not just bits on the computer. I like to hold the box / manual in my hands and look at them sometimes.

I have no knowledge how much the digital buying costs.

[Havrepus]

My bad. Guess I read a bit quickly. I am also of the kind that likes to buy the actual box with all the extra goodies. Still, if the price is right, I will definitely consider buying games online. Dreamfall I actually got for free (a friend of mine works at FunCom luckily..)

[tsa]

When I came home from a visit to my parents this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to see that the games I ordered have arrived! I didn't even have to pay taxes! The only problem is that I got the CD version of Dreamfall I tried to change the demo into the real game, using the CD's, but that didn't seem to work. Now I have to install the game again! O well. I'll do that tomorrow. Next week I have a week off! And since I'm a bachelor again since a few days before Chistmas I have a lot of time to enjoy Dreamfall! Hurray!