Pricing

[Mac Linehan]

Fascist Dog -

Love the name!

Gents -

I'm a "read all the rules" kind of guy; it did take a bit of time to do so - but (at least for me) to get the most our of PON, was not optional.

Once I had a basic understanding of how it all worked and fit together, actually doing a turn and playing the game was not difficult at all, and now flows smoothly along.

PON is not a game of RISK. The complex economic / military / social aspects of that era are well represented. While I love the military units (with all the detail and beautiful unit depictions), the economic aspects of nation building has great appeal also. And, of course, as a former Marine, exploring the unknown and claiming new territories is a great draw... <grin>

So - stick with it. It will be well worth the effort. There are a number of highly experienced players who, on the AGEOD site, have posted guides, or threads that cover most aspects of the game - you don't have to reinvent the wheel. I expect, that as time progresses, this will be a very active forum.

Am very pleased that the AGEOD Team is here with Matrix and Slitherine; we have much to look forward to.

Finally - on a more personal note, I would like to say to Philippe and Pocus: "Welcome Aboard, Gents!"

And to Philippe: Anyone who uses Scat (from Ice Age) as their avatar, is clearly a Man of Great Character and Larger Vision... <grin>

OK - time to go back to conquering the world, spreading peace and good will - my way.

Mac

[Rosseau]

Agreed. I bought from Ageod full price as soon as it came out. Then price drops to a few dollars. That is just the way these days. I hope Philippe and Pocus are getting a fat cut of the inflated Matrix price - in that regard I see good in it.

[Gizuria]

Yes, it probably was a bit too strong. [:o] No offense intended but I have to admit, as a long-time board wargamer who remembers the very first attempts at making computer wargames back in the late 80s and early 90s, I can't believe that wargamers don't appreciate and support companies that produce wargames of such stunning quality. [&:] I spend more than the selling price for this game on a single trip to a restaurant or a Saturday night down the pub.

[Gizuria]

Fascist Dog -

Love the name!

Yup. I'm not a Fascist and I'm not a dog. But I happen to love playing as Germany, or Prussia, in most wargames.

Oops. I appear to have clicked the wrong quote button

[rodney727]

I did support this game I did buy it. While this game isn't for me the same isn't true for others. As a wargamer you pay for what you want and while like I stated above I would have paid $100 for panzer corps. So please spare me "I can't believe" that some don't share your point of view. I'm going to give this game another go. I am reading the manual right now something I didn't do the first time.

ORIGINAL: Fascist Dog

Yes, it probably was a bit too strong. [:o] No offense intended but I have to admit, as a long-time board wargamer who remembers the very first attempts at making computer wargames back in the late 80s and early 90s, I can't believe that wargamers don't appreciate and support companies that produce wargames of such stunning quality. [&:] I spend more than the selling price for this game on a single trip to a restaurant or a Saturday night down the pub.

[IainMcNeil]

Rogo remind what price you bough the game at.

One of the things we have found is that demos for these huge games don't work well. The reason is that these games take a lot of effort to get you going. You need to put in the time to get something out but when you do you're rewarded with an extremely deep and fulfilling experience. When you pay for something you're willing to invest that time and push through a certain amount of frustration. When you get something for free you are much more likely to give up at the first hurdle or point of frustration as you've lost nothing. Someone who would enjoy the game if they paid for it, does not enjoy it if they get it for free as they never get into it enough.

Taking that a step further, someone who only paid a few dollars for the game is less likely to put in the effort required to get the most out of it. I'm wondering if this is where you are right now. If you had paid $24.99 would you have persisted when you gave up because you paid less?

[rodney727]

You almost make me feel guilty for buying this game at 1.99. I did mess around with it and told myself no big loss. I see I have missed some updates for this game. And what you say is also true about life in general....to get out what you but in.

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Rogo remind what price you bough the game at.

One of the things we have found is that demos for these huge games don't work well. The reason is that these games take a lot of effort to get you going. You need to put in the time to get something out but when you do you're rewarded with an extremely deep and fulfilling experience. When you pay for something you're willing to invest that time and push through a certain amount of frustration. When you get something for free you are much more likely to give up at the first hurdle or point of frustration as you've lost nothing. Someone who would enjoy the game if they paid for it, does not enjoy it if they get it for free as they never get into it enough.

Taking that a step further, someone who only paid a few dollars for the game is less likely to put in the effort required to get the most out of it. I'm wondering if this is where you are right now. If you had paid $24.99 would you have persisted when you gave up because you paid less?

[IainMcNeil]

Sorry I didn't mean to, but my point is that when you sell something for a low price people don't value it. If the price is higher they value it more and tend to get more enjoyment from it.

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil
If the price is higher they value it more and tend to get more enjoyment from it.

God, I hope nobody from EA or Activision reads that. [X(]

Although on reflection they probably got there before you. [;)]

[rodney727]

That's really funny but true.

ORIGINAL: Hertston

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil
If the price is higher they value it more and tend to get more enjoyment from it.

God, I hope nobody from EA or Activision reads that. [X(]

Although on reflection they probably got there before you. [;)]

[general_solomon]

I am sorry to go off topic but a PON Rome would be awesome.

[Pocus]

You can try Alea Jacta Est and Birth of Rome, for a very good appetizer!

[JWW]

I support Matrix/Slitherine/AGEOD. AGEOD is a tremendous company that makes some really great games. To be honest, I tried PON, and it was too complex for my tastes. It is a grognard type game in my opinion, and I am not quite a grognard. But I am having a ball playing Alea Jacta Est/Birth of Rome.

[Rocko911]

Hey I have a 2 year old Kia I bought new for $14,000 it had some engine issues and would just shut down for no reason. I am offering it on sale today for $15,000 and it has 30,000 miles on it. [:D] Just trying to add some humor in this thread. LOL[;)]

[bairdlander2]

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Sorry I didn't mean to, but my point is that when you sell something for a low price people don't value it. If the price is higher they value it more and tend to get more enjoyment from it.

Exactly right,the other argument could be "its a niche market,we have no choice to sell for this price",both are valid points

[rodney727]

Lol! Well Kia enough said. Sorry my friend. You did what matrix/slitherine didn't do and that is research the market .

ORIGINAL: LRRP

Hey I have a 2 year old Kia I bought new for $14,000 it had some engine issues and would just shut down for no reason. I am offering it on sale today for $15,000 and it has 30,000 miles on it. [:D] Just trying to add some humor in this thread. LOL[;)]

[Twotribes]

ORIGINAL: rogo727

Lol! Well Kia enough said. Sorry my friend. You did what matrix/slitherine didn't do and that is research the market .

ORIGINAL: LRRP

Hey I have a 2 year old Kia I bought new for $14,000 it had some engine issues and would just shut down for no reason. I am offering it on sale today for $15,000 and it has 30,000 miles on it. [:D] Just trying to add some humor in this thread. LOL[;)]

I thought you were done posting in this thread? I mean you already have the game, you have no point.

[IainMcNeil]

I think this has run its course and everyone has made their point of view made so maybe its time to move on and talk about the game

[Johan]

Some facts are not entirely correct.

PoN was never sold at 1.50$. It was at 4.95 several times when we had -75% off sales. The average amount of money we got for a game was about 13$ (after the distributor cuts).

We based the pricing on what we know usually nets a decent amount of sales, but the game had some problems which made it impossible to turn a profit.

a) It was enormously costly in development, even disregarding the costs AGEOD had before we bought them, we still had to fund another 18 months of development in total on the game.

b) The game had really bad reviews, 70 at metacritic is a kiss of death.

c) Bad word of mouth, due to awkward interfaces, and very slow game-turns.

And when a game can not even sell 10,000 copies in the first 3 months, it does not matter what you price it.


When it comes to sales...

If a game is accessible and had decent enough reviews, then when you sell at a discount at steam, you sell somewhere about 20-50x what you usually sell in a month in revenue. Pride of Nations never managed to do that for us.

[IainMcNeil]

Hi Johan

where are you getting your data from?

The key with PoN is its not an accessible game and trying to sell it as one is doomed to failure before you begin.

Cheers

Iain