Dimitris, forgive me for returning the discussion to price. As someone who played Harpoon back in the days, I could be a potential client for you game. However, at the price point you defined, this is not an impulse buy. I don't agree with Magnum on the greed thing, but I think he is right on the risk factor. As a consumer, the higher the price the more I want the risk to be lower. With several high (and low) profile cases of disappointment with games recently, consumers are more cautious. And waiting for reviews might not be the answer also with many recent cases of games getting 8+ on critic reviews at metacritic and less than 4 by users. Not to mention that a niche game won't get many reviews.

You / Matrix selected the price point you though best served your bottom line, and I do believe that is exactly what you should do. That said, I think that if you tackle that risk perception, you could sell a few more copies at that same price point.
Getting a demo out would help people check that they enjoy the game and that it runs fine. Might win a few more fans and spreed the word. A time limited demo with content limited in available units and regions, would be enough to evaluate it. Even if it is still a 2.5GB download, people won't fret much about that. Release it as a torrent if you feel the cost of hosting the download is high. I believe the community would respond positively to that.

PedroF: Thank you very much for your comment. I do see your point and I will transfer your suggestion for a demo to the Matrix guys (as much as I am aware of their standard policy on demos). You may also see them respond here.

EDIT: No longer necessary.

If a demo comes out and it works well I will definitely buy it. If not I will have to wait for some time for the early adopter phase to pass.

Sorry... as a long time gamer, I love the games Matrix and Slitherine has put out... but it has been my experience that both those companies together price gouge... before as a representive of SimHQ I had to be quite and not voice my opinion on it, now that I'm back to being a paying customer, I have all the right in the world to call it like I see it. Pure GREED... it's not a attack on you, it's a verbal opinion on your company.


And with those prices I'm not worried about you and your family going hungry... you want more sales, drop the price... your doing this to yourselves, or more accurate your BOSS, company, is doing it to you.

Give me a demo, or a guarantee of a full refund if I don't like it or want it and I'd love to buy it...even at that ridiculous prices, hell I've paid more for others (125 for SB Pro PE, and don't regret it at all, and 500 for VBS2, regret it.) You know that price is BS, yet you defend it... so you deserve my attitude.

Congrats!

Still, imho the pricing is way to high, guess how many more sales you would have generated with a 50 buck pricetag! For me it would have been a nobrainer, since i want a game like this for some time now and from the comments on the forums at Matrixgames i think i woulden´t be the only one, but this pricing policy seems just plain greedy!

Hardcore wargames are a niche product but prices like this take care that it stays that way!

Imho a very good post in the matrixgames forums regarding the pricing!
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/fb.asp?m=3417585

I can only echo other people's sentiments. Like Badkarma I've been looking for a game like this to come along for a while now. If the price was lower I'd definitely buy it even without a demo, I think many would do the same.

As posted in another thread not related to the pricing, but mentioned anyway by some:



An additional note is that it took Steel Beasts more than a few years to put out a demo, mostly issues with overcoming their DRM dongle. But have supported their various upgrades without pause because of the quality of workmanship put into their product, much as the quality of this one shines through to those that will take the endeavor to purchase. I don't disagree that Magnum has some valid discussion points, but I disagree with the greed statement as well. I am by no means a fan boy, so please do me the respect of not heaping that moniker on someone that has a genuine interest in accurate 20/21st century naval warfare. But as someone that endured the countless hours of setting up Harpoon in it's original DOS set ups and enduring even more hours of crashes or hardware de-confliction, this new release is nirvana to an old Harpooner.

Yes - that price is too high for me. I probably would have bought it at $60, but this is outside my comfort zone. I find it interesting that a couple of beta testers won't buy at that price, since they had access to the game.

If I knew it wouldn't crash, I'd buy it. The problem is that, ala Rome II, you put $ down and have no idea if the thing will or won't work and you have no recourse other than to fight WWIII with the vendor through the credit card company.

This thread needs some perspective. $80 does seem like a lot, but how does it compare to the prices we were paying in the golden era of simming, i.e. the late 90s? Most of the titles were around $50 back then. According to the BLS inflation calculator, $50 USD in 1998 money is equivalent to $71 USD in today's money. This title is only 9 bucks above that. Going in reverse, $50 USD in today's money is the equivalent to $35 USD in 1998 money. Everyone seemed to be happy paying 50 bucks back then, but are now outraged at a title's price that is a few bucks more than than what is basically the same price we paid in the past, just adjusted for inflation? Seems to me the anger should be directed toward the real culprits, the Fed and a retarded govt.

I just wonder how many reviewers are also having to hold back certain opinions that could influence consumers' decisions on whether to buy games? There's so much politics involved with game reviews now. From people getting free review copies, to advertising revenue, to review embargoes... I'm about done with "professional reviews". There's an ever increasing disconnect between "pro" reviewers and users now.

How big do you think the costumer base was in the mid 80ies early 90ies?
Of course games where more expensive then, since the costumer base was tiny, plus since it was prior to the time every one and his aunt had internet the games had to be bug free. There was no option to patch a game but discs in gaming magazines. Back then i could return a game when i didn´t like it or it wouldn´t run on my PC without questions asked, actually the guys in the store installed games for me on PCs in the store so i could ´give them a test run!

Thinking of this, back then wargames wheren´t niche, as a matter of fact they where the dawn of computer gaming (among the first games i got where Crusade in Europe from Microprose, Gudalcanal from Activision and Strike Fleet from Lucasgames)!

Fair point. Most of the guys who bought it seem to be happy with it: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3416080

Gameplay!
The game itself seems pretty good, although some ppl over at matrixgames have some issues with the performance!

If everything works, then it is worth it and more. But there is no way to know now.

Easy example is War in the Pacific. I still spend a ton of time with that. It is complex and rock solid. I'd pay $500 for that....or more.

thanks for the vid link. bookmarked for viewing later in the day.

Link to the manual!
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/fb.asp?m=3418599

I'm not sure why Steel Beasts gets a pass and this is Greed?
Matrix Slitherine has priced Distant Worlds in the $80 range if you want the current version. Guess what...it's worth it. Those who don't agree don't have to buy it. Game purchases are not mandatory payroll deductions.

I reserve the right to form an opinion based on feedback and reviews before making a purchase, and I will take more time if it's expensive....BUT...I don't see why folks are calling this greed when they have no idea about the development process or sales numbers on a product?

To beat candy crush saga will likely cost the average player over $50....now THAT'S greed.

This seems more like the very same economics that make Steel Beasts and DCS more expensive than the average game. Complexity takes time and time is money. This looks complex.

Read some replies... asked and answered... SB Pro PE gets a pass because there was SB Gold (the first one), a demo is available, and info is out and has been out for some time on SB Pro PE...

Command is new, the company has a history of greedy prices, no demo, and the only info is a handful of fanboys singing it's praised... it's been explained before that it's not the price but the unknown... maybe it is worth 8 bucks, but without a demo, without a guarantee refund if irk or crashes all the time...how do we know... that's the main argument.

Command compared to SB Pro PE is like apples and oranges.

This one caught my eye a couple months back, been watching it until today. Sorry to say but I'm not paying 80 dollars for any game. I'm sure a lot of hard work went in to this and it's targeted at a niche audience, but at this price point you lost me and I'm sure some others too.

Really need to reconsider that price, without a demo I'd pay 39.99, and no more - provide a demo and if I like it I'd pay 49.99 but no more. Thought I'd throw my thoughts out to be heard with others.