Plans for Steam? Price Reductions?

[Kordanor]

Heya,

I am wondering if there are any plans to bring the game to steam and/or if there are any plans about reducing the price of (33,99 + 21,99 + 21,99 =) 77,97 EUR.

Well I guess the Devs will probably only tell about it if it was already done.
So I am also asking the Distant Worlds Community /Matrix Games Community about their experiences.

Were there ever Matrix Games with Steam Releases / Price drops? Any expectations for the future? What about your thoughts about additional Expansions?

I think it's a shame that games like that or Dominions 3 (5 years old and still 55$) are that "locked away".
Is this necessary for this kind of niche games? Did the Dev make bad Experiences with Steam?

Seems like Spiderweb (Avadon, Avernum), which also had quite high prices for their RPGs in the past, came to the decision to try out setam and in the same move, the prices were reduced massively. But as they continued the path and also released Avernum on Steam for a low price, I guess it worked out well for them.

So I welcome any comments and speculation about that. Just please no flames.

[Cauldyth]

Welcome, Kordanor!

Erik did comment last year about Steam, and implied that it was unlikely that DW would ever show up on there. Unfortunately, it's not a simple matter of any dev who wants to go on Steam just snapping their fingers and making it happen. There is actually a significant amount of extra development time required in order to integrate with the Steam systems. From what I understand, DW development is essentially a one-man show, so there isn't a lot of spare dev time to go around.

Erik also pointed out that a lot of games actually get rejected by Steam. They have some sort of approval process, and actually reject many games. A good example is Space Pirates and Zombies, which turned out to be a highly successful game. It was originally rejected by Steam. The dev team had to do their own selling of the pre-release beta, before word of mouth spread enough and Steam decided to pick them up.

As for price drops, they do typically have a sale around Christmas time. There's a new DW expansion due late 2012, so I wouldn't be surprised to see another sale on the existing game/expansions around the same time.

That said, it's totally worth full price. As is Dominions 3.

[Kordanor]

Ah, cheers!
Thanks for all the info!

Can't say much about the steam requirements, but I guess they are more of an "stability"/ compatibility question. If you check out Geneforge for example...ugly as hell, horrible sound, integrated in steam, but no achievements and such. And Spiderweb is also a "one man show" as far as I know. But keeping a standard of compatibility should be a good thing for everyone.

[wozza]

The other reason why it isn't on Steam is because they take a large percentage of the sale from the developer.

I never want to see Matrix games on Steam i think it is unnecessary because Matrix games sell them selves. And also most people like myself support small developers like Matrix because they don't use restrictive DRM and force you to use Steam.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: wozza

The other reason why it isn't on Steam is because they take a large percentage of the sale from the developer.

I never want to see Matrix games on Steam i think it is unnecessary because Matrix games sell them selves. And also most people like myself support small developers like Matrix because they don't use restrictive DRM and force you to use Steam.

You hit a really big thing with me right there. I refuse to buy a game from Steam or Origin due to the whole 'guilty till proven guilty' attitude they take with the restrictive DRM. The way that is done just assumes that every one is a thief. Plus there is the fact that I don't want to have to be connected to the internet to be able to play a single player game I have bought legitimately. Anything that requires me to be 'always connected' just to play is a no go with me.

Yep, I went into rant mode, but as you can see, I am quite happy with the way Matrix handles their own sales, and I have no problem with them requiring the serial code to install. Nice thing about Matrix games, even when my internet is down, I can still start and play my games. [:)]

[solops]

ORIGINAL: Shark7
You hit a really big thing with me right there. I refuse to buy a game from Steam or Origin due to the whole 'guilty till proven guilty' attitude they take with the restrictive DRM. The way that is done just assumes that every one is a thief. Plus there is the fact that I don't want to have to be connected to the internet to be able to play a single player game I have bought legitimately. Anything that requires me to be 'always connected' just to play is a no go with me.

Yep, I went into rant mode, but as you can see, I am quite happy with the way Matrix handles their own sales, and I have no problem with them requiring the serial code to install. Nice thing about Matrix games, even when my internet is down, I can still start and play my games. [:)]

I agree 100%. Anyone who sells on Steam loses me as a customer.

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: solops

ORIGINAL: Shark7
You hit a really big thing with me right there. I refuse to buy a game from Steam or Origin due to the whole 'guilty till proven guilty' attitude they take with the restrictive DRM. The way that is done just assumes that every one is a thief. Plus there is the fact that I don't want to have to be connected to the internet to be able to play a single player game I have bought legitimately. Anything that requires me to be 'always connected' just to play is a no go with me.

Yep, I went into rant mode, but as you can see, I am quite happy with the way Matrix handles their own sales, and I have no problem with them requiring the serial code to install. Nice thing about Matrix games, even when my internet is down, I can still start and play my games. [:)]

I agree 100%. Anyone who sells on Steam loses me as a customer.

Ditto to that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_%28 ... #Criticism

[shinobu]

I hate Steam. Period.

[Kordanor]

I don't see where all the hatred is coming from, especially when steam is just an option and not mandatory. Currently it seems like everyone and their dog offers a steam version as an option.
Examples? Xenonauts, Grimrock, Avadon/Avernum.
And also Galactic Civilizations 2 to throw in a 4X Space game.

If you are against using steam yourself thats fine. But if you want to "forbid" other users to use steam, not so much.

Personally I love steam and if I buy a game it's either a CE-Box or a digital steam edition. I like to have my games all in one place and not spread around the internet. For that reason I wont buy a digital game, if I can't get it on steam. That was also one of my reasons to not buy Mass Effect 3.

[danlongman]

I do not like steam. I do not like piracy. I prefer to have my games on disk in a drawer at home.
The world has changed and I have to use these various online sources if I want to obtain all the
games I want. I have never had the slightest problem with GamersGate and have found their
service to be excellent...but no home copy. Fortunately I have had few issues with steam service.
This is fortunate indeed because I have not been able to detect if they have any customer service
at all. Their entire customer service process seems be designed to make you go away in frustration.
I have never had a satisfactory result to a query or complaint. On the other hand I have purchased
some decent games for less than the cost of a bottle of beer.
cheers

[ceyan]

ORIGINAL: Kordanor

I don't see where all the hatred is coming from, especially when steam is just an option and not mandatory. Currently it seems like everyone and their dog offers a steam version as an option.
Examples? Xenonauts, Grimrock, Avadon/Avernum.
And also Galactic Civilizations 2 to throw in a 4X Space game.

If you are against using steam yourself thats fine. But if you want to "forbid" other users to use steam, not so much.

Personally I love steam and if I buy a game it's either a CE-Box or a digital steam edition. I like to have my games all in one place and not spread around the internet. For that reason I wont buy a digital game, if I can't get it on steam. That was also one of my reasons to not buy Mass Effect 3.

I use Steam on a regular basis, and have a large catalog of Steam games, although I prefer other services. I really only have two problems with Steam:

1) Unfixed problems. Steam has some problems, mostly not that big of a deal, that have been on the docket for years. Games will still not properly download while playing, even if the official stance from Valve is that they're supposed to continue downloading when not playing multiplayer. Instead you have to alt-tab out, forcibly pause the already paused download, then restart it. Offline mode will also not work for some people on some games, and there are many conditions in which anyone can break it intentionally which will occasionally happen to people unintentionally. I can forgive this in many cases, but not when we're talking about a relatively simple application that forms the backbone of a multi-million dollar company and have been known/acknowledge for years.

I don't know if it's acknowledged or not, but I also have to register my PC through Steamguard at least three times every time I rebuild before it sticks.

2) The users. Valve has people convinced that requiring a third-party app to download and authenticate a game purchase isn't DRM. Valve has also convinced people that they're never going to screw over the customer which isn't necessarily nefarious but, for example, all we have is a off-the-cuff comment that they won't from a guy who has also acknowledged he doesn't actually run the company he owns. Or, like in this case, that somehow installing a game through any other source and adding the game to Steam to make use of the Steam Overlay is either not to be done or somehow worse than buying the game from Steam, despite the all of 60 seconds of extra organization and effort it takes to manage that.

Granted there isn't a whole lot Valve can do about #2, but there ya go.

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
Examples? Xenonauts, Grimrock, Avadon/Avernum.

Where do you see Xeononauts being offered on Steam? I see nothing to support this statement on either Xenonauts' own page, nor on Steam.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
And also Galactic Civilizations 2 to throw in a 4X Space game.

Again, I cannot find any statement to support this claim on GalCiv2 developer's site - Stardock, nor on Steam's website.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
But if you want to "forbid" other users to use steam, not so much.

Nobody has proposed such. Several people have expressed that THEY will not buy DW if it goes Steam, but I haven't seen any of those posts even vaguely suggest that this is something other than free choice.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
I like to have my games all in one place and not spread around the internet. For that reason I wont buy a digital game, if I can't get it on steam.

Curiously, that's exactly one of my strongest reasons for not using Steam - I can't play the games I bought and paid for outside of the specified region. Instead of having your having different regional restrictions - you now have none of them available to you when you move. Improvement?

Steam seems grand if you have no problems. Once you have a problem - your f**ked.

[WiZz]

So, looks like I'm only man, who like STEAM. [:)]
You guys forget one obliviously reason why matrix doesn't come to STEAM of other services.
It's possibility to set inadequate price for their games. Steam sets clear gradation for game pricing. The reasons, why trilogy of DW costs more expensive, than typical AAA-projects (with development cost over9000 thousands of dollars) are hidden for me. I also forgot to say about Matrix reluctance of making Gold edition or standalone addons.

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: WiZz

So, looks like I'm only man, who like STEAM. [:)]

[Velihopea]

I was actually wondering about this too. The fact is that Matrix doesn't have so much visibility, which naturally limits the sales of the game. I found out about distant worlds on Paradox OT forum. Bought it on Gamersgate.

Now I've found out that this is truly a gem in 4x genre. I especially like the realistic approach to the game.

Problem for me is that it doesn't sell its expansions on Gamersgate or steam. I don't like spreading my owned digital games on too many vendors. Other problem is what I'm used to buying from steam: Older games you get from sales on reduced price.

I will most likely buy the expansions from matrix store at full price though as this game gets better and better as I play it.

EDIT: I'm just wondering if the real reason of not using steam is matrix's own digital store? But just look at stardock and what they decided a while ago... Although Matrix game are not mainstream so own store with limited visibility and clientele might not be too bad for them

But steam is good. For the producer and customer. Publishing this game on steam would get it much more visibility and thus more sales and thus more money to develop it further. And as volumes rise users might get it more cheaply.

[Kordanor]

ORIGINAL: Kayoz
Where do you see Xeononauts being offered on Steam? I see nothing to support this statement on either Xenonauts' own page, nor on Steam.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts
Yes, you will on release. We have now signed a distribution deal with the good folk at Valve.

Xenonauts will use Desura for distributing pre-order builds until the game is finished, which is a similar service to Steam but is more geared towards indie games.

At release, all pre-orderers and Kickstarter backers will be given the choice of a Desura or Steam key for their pre-order.

ORIGINAL: Kayoz
Again, I cannot find any statement to support this claim on GalCiv2 developer's site - Stardock, nor on Steam's website.

Buy it on stardock website or on steam - there is your choice.

Nobody has proposed such. Several people have expressed that THEY will not buy DW if it goes Steam, but I haven't seen any of those posts even vaguely suggest that this is something other than free choice.

Yes, but saying "I will not buy the game if it goes steam" denies the choice and indicates that stardock would (in theory) lose a customer if they offered the additional option.
(Besides of course, that it's not possible anymore if you already bought the game).

Curiously, that's exactly one of my strongest reasons for not using Steam - I can't play the games I bought and paid for outside of the specified region. Instead of having your having different regional restrictions - you now have none of them available to you when you move. Improvement?

I am using steam in France and in Germany. There are zero restrictions with using the titles I already purchased. The restriction so far is purely in buying the games. E.g. some games could not be bought in france at some point (Tropico afaik) other games were not checked for age restriction and therefore are not available in germany (there was one Zombie killing game but that's the only case afaik). And dependent on your region in which you buy the key, you might get a different version of the game (Fallout NV France->PEGI / Germany -> USK/Cut Version, the only case I know of) but you can use both versions in both countries.
I am pretty sure that there are these restrictions you are writing about, but that probably is like wanting to play games in the Iran as there might be a no trade agreement from valve or something like that.

Steam seems grand if you have no problems. Once you have a problem - your f**ked.

As far as I can tell their csm support is ok. And I put more faith in them than in some "no-name" company also running a garage digital store if you know what I mean.

[Velihopea]

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
And also Galactic Civilizations 2 to throw in a 4X Space game.

Kayoz:
Again, I cannot find any statement to support this claim on GalCiv2 developer's site - Stardock, nor on Steam's website.

Stardock released GalCiv2 in steam - I bought it from there a couple of months back. Stardock also sold their digital store to Gamestop and now will publish all their future games on many digital vendors. Steam, Gamestop etc.

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
Xenonauts will use Desura for distributing pre-order builds until the game is finished, which is a similar service to Steam but is more geared towards indie games.

Hrmm - I'll have to reconsider my contribution through Kickstarter. I was under the impression that it would be released DRM-free. If they are going to require the installation of spyware like Steam, then I'll wait for Razor1911 to fix that.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
Buy it on stardock website or on steam - there is your choice.

Brilliant. I search for "galactic" on Steam's site, and Galactic Civilizations doesn't come up - though it SEEMS to be there if I follow the Steam link from galciv2.com. Go go Steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?s ... m=galactic

ORIGINAL: Kordanor

ORIGINAL: Kayoz
Nobody has proposed such. Several people have expressed that THEY will not buy DW if it goes Steam, but I haven't seen any of those posts even vaguely suggest that this is something other than free choice.

Yes, but saying "I will not buy the game if it goes steam" denies the choice and indicates that stardock would (in theory) lose a customer if they offered the additional option.
(Besides of course, that it's not possible anymore if you already bought the game).

Going back to your original statement, you stated - "But if you want to "forbid" other users to use steam, not so much." - and your statement I am responding to now - "...but saying "I will not buy the game if it goes steam" denies the choice and indicates that stardock would (in theory) lose a customer"

I'm not forbidding anyone from buying a Steam product. I am not denying their right to choose. I refute your claim.

How is my choice about my purchasing a denial of someone else's choice? My choice is mine alone. I do not presume to forbid others to buy a product that I find unattractive.

By your argument, if I don't buy a Pukka pie, I'm denying others the right to choose to buy their own Pukka pie. Sorry, but you make no sense.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
I am using steam in France and in Germany.

Completely irrelevant. You are still within the same region. Europe is one region. Use your Steam key in Brazil or Japan, and that would be a relevant test of region restrictions. Or find a visiting Russian, and ask him to use the keys which he paid for at home while he's in France or Germany. See how well that works.

ORIGINAL: Kordanor
As far as I can tell their csm support is ok. And I put more faith in them than in some "no-name" company also running a garage digital store if you know what I mean.

I'd rather have my own disks to install from, which I can take with me anywhere and which are my property in my possession - than have all those products which I rightly paid for accessible at the whim of one company. If I'm going to have to deal with digital stores, then I am safer in dealing with many small ones than with putting all my eggs in one basked. Basic risk management.

As for their customer service, I can't comment on your experiences. My experiences with their customer support have been entirely negative. Emails unanswered, clueless tech support bods and bugs which they have dozens of reports on but refuse to admit exist (Steam bugs, not that of the games). Good for you. We don't have similar experiences.

[Falokis]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131 ... f=category

I'm watching this one. You can never have too many 4x spaces games

[malkuth74]

Steam would be better then the service they use now. Thats for sure.. At least you can download your games when you want on steam.