Matrix Games Forums

How do the sales go ? [8|]
Can the number of copies sold be disclosed ? (let's dream)
Hope we can build a long term Flashpoint community !

Sales have been disappointing.

But we struggle on.

However, they are meeting expectations.

Doing even better than we thought they would be.


Those are the responses you normally get when you ask that question. Pick one and you're good. In a way they all fit. [:(]


I am more concerned with giving the best support for the game that we can give, than if we have sold "X" number of games. If you want to see how we compare to other games take a look at their thread count and their post count. Those will tell you how active the game itself is.

If you do the numbers by that criteria we are doing very well. Because it's building a community. FPC hasn't even been for sale 2 weeks yet and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Thanks to all of you for that. [&o]

We appreciate your time and commitment to the game, as well as your buying it. With your commitment to the game we could do no less than match that. Buying the game cost you a finite amount of money. Playing the game in your spare time is priceless because spare time is the most expensive thing in the world. Once it's gone you can never get it back.

In the coming months you should see much more of Flash Point Campaigns and the almost endless content that can be done with it.

Good Hunting.

MR

You can count me in on payday [:)

Welcome to the insanity! [X(]

We look forward to your participation in this journey with us. [:)]

Good Hunting.

MR

I'm surprised I don't see reviews in large specialized magazines/website. I guess you sent promotional copies for review to all these websites ?

It's surprising because the game is objectively excellent, fully innovative (a new paradigm and not the n-th remake of the same old concept !). A very well polished game with nice maps, nice menus, efficient UI, great AI, scenario editor, moddable, campaigns, PBEM (but no TCP/IP games ), apparently nearly infinite re-playability and a fully dedicated team. Etc. etc.

Well, all the ingredients of a blockbuster.

I think/hope this will be soon well known on the internet gaming community and that the sales will reach long term targets and hopefully largely over. It's all what I'm wishing you.

So once more, congratulations for this amazing game !

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm is the best investment I made for years. As MR says, I have years of enjoyment in front of me for a handful of bucks. A great deal and great value for my hard earned cash !

I think the real Achille's Heel of this game, just in terms of marketing, is his frame of time, which appeals just a small niche of players . Selling a game about an hypothetical past war is overly difficult and having already an active and large community is a clear sign that the system is polished and innovative.
I made an effort to get in the mood of simulating a war that has never happened and I guess I could because that I played that war infinite times thirty years ago (Assault, Baor, GDW's Third World War). It's a sort of way back to my youth. [;)]
I'm sure you will hook a new huge target of buyers as soon as you publish an expansion concerning:an hypothetical future war or a real war from the past (Korea, Vietnam, Arab-Israeli Wars, Afghanistan, Ww2).

I just made a bit "commercial" for this one in another (german) wargaming forum. Lets see if we can get more fans...

ORIGINAL: hafer

I just made a bit "commercial" for this one in another (german) wargaming forum. Lets see if we can get more fans...

Thanks. We appreciate any help you can give us in getting the game more exposure.

Good Hunting.

MR

Hi,

Yes... Cold War appeals to those of a certain generation... I am fifty-six so it does appeal to me[;)].

WWII is the way to go.... don’t fight it... Eastern Front WWII is the big one for semi-operational games. You know I right....[:D]

The engine is superb... but if you do go WWII/when you go WWII, resist taking it down to a more tactical level. The unique combination of semi- operations and “command game....” features of this engine are what make it so outstanding.

Future wars I wouldn’t advocate because they are even more lethal. At the semi-operational scale all players would be able to see everything and hit it with standoff weapons. WWII is near uniquely interesting from a wargames point of view because mechanical engineering had matured but apart from radios there was not electronics. The defence and offence were in balance.

The nineteen eighties are about as late as you can go and still have an interesting semi-operational/fully operational game. WWI does not take the interest of many as a subject for wargames, nor will future war if realistically modelled. Both WWI and future war were/are too lethal given the technology available at the time.

Anyway... each to their own... [:)]

All the best,
Kip.

I'm sure you will hook a new huge target of buyers as soon as you publish an expansion concerning:an hypothetical future war or a real war from the past (Korea, Vietnam, Arab-Israeli Wars, Afghanistan, Ww2).

+1 ! particularly for a hypothetical but realistic conflict.
My best option would be NATO+Israel vs. Syria+Iran+Russia.
Well, this would be WW3.

I also think that TCP-IP (ideally with a gamers ranking/scoring system) could be a big plus too.

Why can't I find reviews online ?

Hi,

I wouldn't say that Forum threads and Post count could really serve as an indication of how popular/successful a game is. [:-]

FPRS was released with relatively few bugs .. which, in this day and age, .. is a minor miracle. [:)]

The game is basically, fully playable right outta the box. It's only really a few UI type issues that need to be addressed/resolved, .. and a few sensible suggestions, which, .. let's hope, you developer types are savvy enough to filter the sensible ones, from the ludicrous ones. e.g. knowing whether it was .50 cal or grenades that killed my units. This is NOT a Squad level game. I don't need a gazillion bits of superfluous information. [8|]

So, with nothing to really complain about, .. why would the forum be that busy? If you release a new game, and the forum goes beserk, .. it's, no doubt .. due to numerous complaints about the game not working blah blah blah. [8|]

Anyway, I hope the game goes on to sell really well. I think, as others have mentioned, the Cold War in Europe is not to everyone's taste, .. and, with expansions into other areas of operations .. FPRS will have appeal to those sitting on the fence for now.

On the subject of expansions, .. please, please, please .. no WW II, and especially no Eastern Front in WW II. Those have been done to death. [8|]

1950s thru 2013, presents an incredible landscape from which to draw on Theatres of Operation/Battle, .. far more so .. than WW II. [:)]

So, thanks for a great game [&o], .. it takes me back to my days of playing Tac-Air and GDW's Assault series. [:)]


Cheers
Tom

It's a fabulous game. It's also a grognard-style, serious wargame. No matter how good it is, it's market is going to be bounded by some serious limits. The subject matter and setting I actually see as a positive, as the overlap between the people who would buy this sort of game and those who are interested in "classic" NATO/WP timeframes is pretty solid. Of course, WWII is the biggest draw, but it also has the most competition. This game occupies a relatively similar niche to Command Ops, but in a vastly different setting; I think that's good for both products. It also, one would hope, should synergize with CMANO pretty well.

But yeah, no one is going to go out and buy their own Ferrari making wargames.

@Thomas..please dont say things like that..this is a unique game system and there is nothing like it for WW2..and the East front would be superb..also no matter how much you may not like it it is where the money is for future games covering the less well known conflicts. Really don't get why people say things like this. Setting out to deprive others what they enjoy. I have no interest in say in Middle eats warfare\Conflicts and it will also be a low seller if made, but I wouldn't tell OTS not to make it as I know others want to see it. Just because a wargame is WW2 it doesn't mean it's like all the others out there.

WW2 eastern front would be a strategic mistake. The market is saturated with WW2 games. WITE has reached some top level and will be difficult to do better, even with the FP engine.

IMO Flashpoint should remain a modern time combat simulator. As Thomas says there are plenty of real and hypothetical conflicts in the 1950-2020 time frame.

In fact I'd love to see some top modern weapons and platforms, including lots of electronic warfare, drones, satellites, unconventional depleted uranium and fragmentation weapons, etc. etc. All these would be perfectly adapted to FCRS engine.

1980's is already .. 35 years old but as it was nearly never treated in computer games we enjoy it. The challenge now will be to go to another setting. Gulf, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Korea, Africa, etc. I know I already said that many times but it's really my dream

TOAW was a nice game covering these periods and I guess a big commercial succes too, so it's not impossible.

As for websites we have been featured on Grogheads, Wargamer, Wargamer.Fr to name a few of the top of my head. Other sites have the product info. We are on Facebook and have been talked up on a few FaceBook sites too. And more stuff is planned. As MR pointed out, we are a week old!

Thanks to everyone for their overwhelming support! [&o]

I bought based on comments in this forum. If you liked TacOps, this is better with a much improved AI.

ORIGINAL: BeastieDog
If you liked TacOps, this is better with a much improved AI.

Thats exactly what i thought!

ORIGINAL: hafer

ORIGINAL: BeastieDog
If you liked TacOps, this is better with a much improved AI.

Thats exactly what i thought!

I usually wait until the first patch is out, but you can play this one right out of the box. I'd like to see more tactical air in the scenarios. I miss Avalon Hill's TacAir.

@nukxx..your greatly mistaken..why do you think there are so many WW2 games..because they sell more than any others. Slitherine will back this up I'm sure. This has been proved right over the years..WW2 sells more than any other wargame, simple. If this had been an East front WW2 game I bet you any money that it would have sold far more than it has.

I'm starting to get abit miffed now over this issue. Really don't understand why people are so desperate to not let us WW2 gamers have something from this engine. It's already been said that the series will cover other modern wars..so your going to get what you want anyway, so why on earth are you so against others having something too?

As for WITE ..it's a totally different game at a different scale..your comparison makes no sense at all. I don't own it because I have no interest in that scale. You could say then that TOAW3 covers all modern conflicts so why make this game.

Anyway MR has said he also wants the game at some point to go WW2..so the matter for me is settled..and we all get what we want.

ORIGINAL: BeastieDog

I'd like to see more tactical air in the scenarios. I miss Avalon Hill's TacAir.

The reason there is not more tactical air in the scenarios is my belief in the way the war would be fought.

1) Everybody on this planet realized that NATO intended on it's Air Force to make up for deficiencies it's ground forces have. The Soviets won WWII with their ground forces and intended doing the same thing in WWIII. Target #1 for the Warsaw Pact - NATO hard surface runways and airfields.

2) The advent of a more highly developed air defense system is deadly to ground attack aircraft. You have to choose your times and places to attack. Until the air defense can be suppressed there will be fewer CAS missions. Note the 73 Arab/Israeli War.

3) As NATO's airfields are slowly brought back to operational status many of those flights will be to strike WP airfields.


Add all that up and it leads to a scarcity of CAS in the game.

Good Hunting.

MR