I'm not sure that eSim will get too many impulse buyers with their current asking price.

I have a great interest in the subject matter,having played tank sims for 20+ years now,yet it took me years to make the decision to buy it.
Price was a big factor that held me off making the purchase.
The other was a lack (at the time) of decent modern armoured simulations.

If I am going to fork out $125 for a game I am certainly going to 'research' the hell out of it.
Forums,reviews and youtube are my main tools to help me make a decision.

I'm trying to think what the average SB Pro buyer is like....

They have played tank sims for years.
They watch all tank related goodness on Discovery.
They know all the best tank related films.
They have tank related paraphernalia dotted about their 'man cave'.
They may even have served for real in the armed forces.
They almost certainly have quite a few tank sims in their collection.

As for the price?
For me worth every penny.
It may cost 2-3 times more than an 'A' grade titled game,but it's still on my hard disc.Countless dozens of other purchases are not.

You been spyin on me ?

Simple, you get what you pay for, there just isnt another Land Warfare/Armour sim like it. certainly no other PC based simulation
that is so engaged with its customers/player/friends/community and absolutely nothing comes close to the time Ive spent engrossed in SB, be it fighting battles, making scenarios or editing skins. Worth the outlay ? Hell yeah !

1.How and where did you hear about SB Pro?

2.What made you think enough about it that you actually bothered enough to come here and tell me that our marketing is horrible?

3.Have you looked at the Steel Beasts channel at YouTube and checked out the videos that we made?

4. Did you (gasp) ... google it?

5.Have you read the reviews here at SimHQ, at Tanksim.com, or even bothered to visit SteelBeasts.com to check out the "Game Info" tab and the corresponding Wiki? If you did, and if what you saw there didn't change your assessment that Steel Beasts is more than "a tank sim", how could a demo possibly change that impression, especially if it featured one of the more popular vehicles like the M1 or Leopard 2?

6.You can download and install Steel Beasts Pro PE for free, and if you find another user on the discussion board at SteelBeasts.com to borrow you a license (which is possible), you can play. So there - no demo, but you can try the full game (you just depend on others not pulling the plug while you play).

1.I heard about Steel Beast looking in the SimHQ forums for a tank sim. Ironically it was DCS Black Shark that got me interested in tank warfare (I wanted to see how the other side felt, the other side of my shkval that is).

2.I say your marketing is horrible because it is. When you visit the Steel Beast website you have nice videos sure. But I have seen nice videos of truly awful games. When you click game info it does not share features it only tells you system requirements. So the only way to get any information about it is to pour through the forums. I thought to come here to say something because I think you probably have a great product and it is unfortunate lack of easily available information is probably costing you sales. Videos are ok but you should highlight features with text as well.

3.I have watched Steel Beast on Youtube. I was not aware Steel Beast had its own Youtube channel. Video is not a substitute for gameplay. Again, you can make a mess of a game look great by editing video. I think anyone who buys games can attest to that. It does partially communicate some features. Text would be better to advertise these though.

4.Sure did. That's how I found your site.

5.I did read the reviews at SimHQ. I did read about Steel Beast at Tanksim.com (I do not remember if it was an official review or not) When you click game info it does not share features it only tells you system requirements.I was not aware of a Steel Beast Wiki. I revisited your site and saw it on the left side (I checked it out, it is good). Maybe your right about the Demo.

6. Isn't this like stealing your game? Maybe I do not understand the mechanics of it. Is it like a guest pass?

I would like to commend you on making yourself available for questions and debate on SimHQ forums. Your really making yourself part of the community.

Regarding 2:

In the game info menu, there is a submenu there. It has the SB Wiki, and a page called features. While not a totally exhaustive list, it does give some idea of the vehicles included and what is playable. The SB Wiki goes into more detail about how the playable vehicles work. You must be an exception to the rule - I think lists of features will attract almost no one, videos of gameplay and aars are what sucks people in. I have yet to think of a good way to condense SB into a few paragraphs of text. Anything longer than that will exceed the attention span of most people and be a waste.

Regarding 6:

Licenses can be shared over the internet. Many people have several spare licenses available on their system for loaning out to people who want to try the sim or for family members. On your end, you would have to install the game and the codemeter runtime to borrow them.

Figured I'd weigh in on this since I spent about a month researching before purchasing it last week. Been playing it quite a bit since, though mostly tutorials and some of the simpler scenarios. I was in your position almost exactly -interest sparked by Black Shark, initially incredulous at the cost, etc.

1.How and where did you hear about SB Pro?
SimHQ

3.Have you looked at the Steel Beasts channel at YouTube and checked out the videos that we made?
Yes. At initial pass they are not that impressive as the charm of the sim is in the game play and not the graphics. I learned the most about game play from the AARs such as Brave Rifles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tPvJoCZLg and more recently, the T-72 AAR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLIhnjZFQ0M . Neither of these pops up on the first page when I searched youtube. In fact, I got a collection of some really old, pre-PE stuff and a hodge-podge of three year old stuff of varying quality.

What I would have liked to have seen there was a few short (maybe two minute) video blurbs on what is special about the sim. An example of using the Map view, an overview of the playable vehicles and the unplayable vehicles. Perhaps a 15second teaser for 3 of the best scenarios, with narration.

5.Have you read the reviews here at SimHQ, at Tanksim.com, or even bothered to visit SteelBeasts.com to check out the "Game Info" tab and the corresponding Wiki? If you did, and if what you saw there didn't change your assessment that Steel Beasts is more than "a tank sim"
actually it took me a little longer than you'd expect for me to figure that out. After all, the videos don't explain that you can command at a higher level, somewhat like the Take Command ACW games, or the complexity and power of the waypoint and route system.

They also don't explain what level of detail you get in the vehicles. Is it switchology like Black Shark? Lighter like IL2? Procedural sim vs Zeitgeist sim? Turns out the technical details of operating the vehicles are mostly glossed over and a lot of the interesting complexity is in the Tank Commandeer and higher role - it's like multiplayer Combat Mission crossed with Red Orchestra, adding on a layer of Take Command Bull Run.

how could a demo possibly change that impression, especially if it featured one of the more popular vehicles like the M1 or Leopard 2?
Personally, I think if esim or SimHQ sponsored an 'free' online event once or twice a year that would be better than a demo. You could lend a limited number free licenses for 10 days so people could try the tutorials, then run a noobs online coop game. It really takes doing the tuts and reading the manual to understand the thought behind the game.
You could offer this to SimHQ members only and encourage people to chat on teamspeak to get a grip on the game.

6.You can download and install Steel Beasts Pro PE for free, and if you find another user on the discussion board at SteelBeasts.com to borrow you a license (which is possible), you can play. So there - no demo, but you can try the full game (you just depend on others not pulling the plug while you play).
This is what convinced me to purchase, a fellow simhqer lent me a license for a week. This is a great seller, so long as you have the kind souls around to offer you a borrowed license.
The ability to add up to 7 more licenses at $25 each so friends of mine can play as well was an understated yet essential plus. There was no way I was going to convince them to spend $100 for this, but me offering them a license to borrow might entice them.

I should add Ssnakes detailed responses to my questions showed a high level of support.

pakfront I think you and I are on the same page. You covered some of the things I thought but did not elaborate on. By the way do you belong to a DCS/FC flight squad. What is your tag? Funny how DCS: Black Shark has lead 2 people to interest in Steel Beast.

All right, you raise a couple of valid points.

For what it's worth, I think SBProPE is worth the price. I bought it initially almost six years ago (give or take... it's been six or so years) and gave away my license (along with every other game and computer) during a big life change. I recently bought the game again, and while I haven't sunk a whole lot of time into it on this second go, it is still worth it to me.

I think the problem with the price point for the average gamer is more of a problem with the state of tank games/simulations than anything else. Today you've got a choice of World of Tanks and SBProPE for a tank sim - though you might be able to squeeze in BF3 and RO2 into there. WoT is a fun game, and free, and designed for lay-people to play with tanks (I call it 'Counter Strike for Tanks'). SBProPE is a sim - a hardcore sim - and, comparative to other games, expensive. It's core audience are the people who know how to fight tanks and maneuver on a modern battlefield already - vets, tank nuts, etc. There are few, if any, casual gamers in the SBProPE community. There is no happy medium in the field (and, no, I don't think the Graviteam sims qualify for a non-Russian audience - I have both sims and while I enjoy them for the most part, I can't recommend them to my gamer and tanker friends yet).

I think the success of World of Tanks shows that there is a good, unsatisfied market for tank games, but there needs to be some kind of bridge between the game and the sim extremes. We need another M1 Tank Platoon II or Panzer Elite (or MS Flight Simulator for tanks) - a game that is accessible and fun for the average gamers but also has fidelity to the vehicles it portrays and the battles/campaigns you fight to please the hard core.

I've actually been tinkering with a design document for a "Strike Fighters"-like tank game for years (a lite sim) but I've been out of the simulation industry for a while and back in the military. Maybe after my next deployment I'll have the money to finally put up or shut up about it.

Well for me this stopped being about price. It was, but not anymore. I simply want to know more about the interface before I commit. I think pakfront communicated how I feel pretty well. I may beg a license for a week or so. Maybee Ssnake himself might be willing to float me a week (I won't ask or comment on it any further but if he offers I am game). I would love to come back and tell everyone Steel Beast is great. I would love to convince people that are more like myself (like DCS / LOFC2 pilots for instance that have developed interest in tank warfare but do not really understand Steel Beast) that it is a great investment.

Also I have recalculated the price

DCS Black Shark $49.99 (when new)
Logitech G940 $299.95 (new egg)
TrackIR $150.00 (TrackIR site)

Total Cost $499.94

Steel Beast is looking pretty cheap.

The problem is the license is run through the USB dongle..not via a downloaded license you enter into your install. So, a trial version doesn't exist because of the current DRM protection, which works rather well.

Matt