We get two for free anyway, so the starting roster is 10 demigods.
Let's assume for the sake of argument that:
Also, we all enjoy the game.
In the hopes that GPG isn't abandoning Demigod in favor of supcom2 or something else, how willing are you to fork over your cash in order to get more DGs of a quality similar to the original ones ?
(US-Dollars. Assume the dollar remains stable.)
Note: According to GPG according to a comment, the development of a new Demigod from scratch is supposed to cost GPG $100,000 (source: he-said-he-said-they-said). It will certainly get cheaper if GPG streamlines their efforts to generate new DG content, but even so they have to earn money.
Acceptable price for new demigods:
Also, what would be the most sensible way to release the new creations ?
Release format for new Demigods:
Updated Current result (#141):
Surprisingly this thread got revived and offered nearly 20 new identifyable votes.
Like always, the current result required a bit of an interpretation effort on my part: For example, a decent sized expansion gets interpreted as 4 demigods and a full expansion as demigods, however phrased.
The dislike of the downloadable-content model persists. Although it's not quite clear to me what the factual difference is between a 4-DG DLC for 5$ per DG and an expansion pack containing 4 DGs for 20$-25$. I suppose it's the fear of the legendary "horse-armor".
0$: 5 1$: 2 2$: 5 3$: 9 4$: 8 5$: 19 X$: 3
Identified votes:51
?: 3 1: 8 2: 19 4: 9 8: 8
Identified votes:47
I don't see why they couldn't play against new Demigods. They just have to make sure they're 100% balanced as to not divide the player base that way.
I kinda didn't think of this when I made my post, if they're released 1 at a time as soon as they're ready we're going to just be seeing games full of the 1 that was released.
So uh, maybe 2 at once.
Thats what I thought. I thought, stupid n00bs dont bother reading the dev journals. Silly people saying we should pay for whats already been promised for free.
I see now I should have read the whole thread properly instead of getting it all wrong lol.
Anyways, to answer your question again a bit better: I honestly feel that they should package new DGs and maps in an add-on thats appropriately substantial, adding real value to the game. This includes, new game modes, new items on top of the DGs and maps. If the update is not substantial, not enough people will buy it to make it worth it.
I don't buy the 100k$ to make a new demigod. I mean there is already plenty of good idea in the forums, a lot of stuff they can take from similar game, etc. Beside the art and some balancing, I don't see the cost of adding new DG.
Anyway, I really hope they don't pull a Left4Dead on us and start asking money after the free "expansion" they said they'd do. It's been month now and it's barely worthy of release status.
I like the game and gave the 50% off to my roomate, but they'll have to make up for the past month cause right now I don't believe I got 40$ worth of a game.
I wouldn't pay for extra content unless it was a full fledged expansion. Everything else should be covered by the original purchase of the game. As earlier posts have said, I won't pay for an incomplete game, and then pay even more to get what I should have got in the box.
I was gulping a bit there, too. But the info is he-said-he-said-they-said, so it might not be totally accurate.
anyway, work involved would be conception, design, coding, animation, modeling, sound effects & speech, a bit storytelling, special effects design and whatever. no idea how many manhours that will be and what they have to pay them per hour. But 100k seems high, indeed.
If the figure is solid then it's a bad omen for future fanmade DGs.
If you think about the 3D meshes, the texturing, the animations and effects for every ability, death animations, the time it takes to think up and design the abilities... How many man month (that's how they calculate costs) do you think it will take to make one Demigod? Oh and Regulus got a complete workover during the beta, that might add a few thousand bucks.
For comparison, a detailed car model in a racing game (Test Drive Unlimited) would take one artist 3 month (3 man month). Of course there is more than one guy working on the model. But that's the number I found in a German gaming magazine and it was from the owner (Thomas Schleischnitz) from a company specialized on graphics for games (Rabcat, Austria). A car model for the Xbox version of GTA: Vice City (2003) took them 7 days. That's probably the same difference between a DotA hero and a Demigod.
Making new demigods will probably be cheaper now for several reasons:
- artstyle is established
- balancing is a lot easier
- shaders, effects can be reused
- some abilities are determined by the balance (one stun/interrupt, one main damage skill, 3 passive skills...)
Still, it will take a shitload of money to create the art for one demigod. And I don't think they lied to us about the $100k. The question is: how much would it cost now.
No!!!! episodic gaming is BS..and should not cost us money..i.e. dont even mention $/demigod....thats a rip off...
now I have no problem paying for expansion..but paying X per demigod is TOTAL BS and I won't do it.
an Expansion would be (and will cost less then the original game):
New Maps (the number of new maps would be equal or greater then the original release)
New Demi Gods (equal or greater to release demigods)
This would be worthy of paying for. (again the underlying game engine is the game..as such I see this being a legit expansion effort)....
Note we still need to enable user created maps...ASAP (or least give us a new maps asap..especially 3v3 as this appear to be the optimum number)
What he said.
I hate DLC it's ruining gaming. Expansion packs are a great model and have been for some time.
What do you propose next we start paying for maps? items? funny little hats for our demi's?
Also look at TF2, valve could have charged existing customers adn possibly lost a few. Instead they attract new customers and use updated gameplay as a marketing tool.
I'll probably stop playing DG if I have to pay for small content updates, an expansion pack would be wonderful tho.
What if there were 20 $1 small updates that were released as a $20 expansion pack when they were all completed?
Fan-made DGs would likely not have the same visual quality, for example you would need things like a stun animation and a beign frozen effect, neither of which are central to the game. The current DGs wave around a bit and have some fancy ice effects, but this isn't really needed and I wouldn't care if fan made content didn't have this kind of stuff in favor of being somewhat different from a gameplay perspective.
They could continue to attract customers if they went by Valve's smart model with TF2.
If they added new demigods, maps and features on a regular basis and took the time to really get behind it and market it, the new sales from new customers who come following the interest trail would pay for it alone. That and the fact that when they then unleash an expansion pack most of those customers would then likely buy it.
You cant underestimate how much new content will do towards keeping a game fresh and alive. Look at the original DOTA...the constant updates and tweaks, new additions etc, they give people something to look forward to. New stuff, particularly when it's quality is an absolutely killer way to grow your games community. But you totally have follow up on it, not just promise it then release one piddly little thing every 6 months.
Per demigod I would pay 3-4
I prefer they be released in backs of 2 or 4
Yep,
I'd love to see more 'Coming Soon' news from star dock... at the moment we have 2 new demi's to look forward too but nothing else.
No mention of fixing the 101 things that are busted adn should have been workign on day 1.
I have no problem with the game shipping with 8 DG's, so I don't see DLC DG's as the company trying to rip me off. Thus, I'll buy DG's in whatever format they choose to release them in (large scale expansion, one at a time, etc.). I suppose $5 each if it's one by one, say $8 or so for 2 at a time, or $15 for four.
I do, however, have a problem with 8 maps, no mod support and no replays. I will never pay for those. I expect at least one map per DG per DLC release, if not more. And I don't consider them part of the cost, so if the DG itself doesn't seem like it's worth the price, I won't buy the package.
I would pay $5 for 2 demigods. I would also like to see new 3-4 player maps badly.
I would pay $5 for 2DGs, $4 for 4DGs and $3 for 8DGs
After the 2 free demigods they promised, and maybe the possiblity of a map or two (and a map editor that doesn't invovle complicated 3d rendered backgrounds) I would just rather pay for a bundled expansion that has like 4 new demigods a bunch new maps, and perhaps a new game mode (something drasticely differenet) Especailly if it takes so much time anyways.
But if I had no other choice. I'd probably play 5$ for 2 more on top of that.
Paying for new demigods and maps?
That means in 2 years to get the full game u gotta pay like 80 dollar?
No way!
To keep the game alive u need to keep updates free.
For me it would be enough releasing 2 demigods at a time.
I think it's fair to pay for new demigods. Most non-subscription games come out with new purchasable expansions, not free updates, especially when you get new units/races.
I wouldn't mind paying $30 for a new expansion of 4 new demigods and 5 new maps as well. That's around $5/demigod and $2 for new maps.
Of course, if they just made a map editor, new maps wouldn't be a problem.
An interesting thread. I hope that GPG/Stardock is reading it. Anyhow, I definitely prefer a full-blown expansion over a trickle of DLC that nickels and dimes you to death. Assuming that they release 2-4 free demigods and at least 2 free maps (and fix remaining bugs), I would definitely consider buying an expansion. For me, it would need to include 4-6 new demigods, 4-6 new maps, and new creeps. I would pay $20-25 for such a package. If they threw in some semblance of a single-player campaign (even if it was just based on scripted skirmishes and cutscenes that showcase each demigod's backstory and gameplay style), I'd pay up to $30.
I think that it is a bit unrealistic to expect much free additional content beyond the 2 promised demigods, a couple of maps, and clan support. I do not think that the game has been a big commercial success thus far, so GPG/Stardock probably will not be able to support it with new content unless there is a price tag attached.
Updated Current result (#70):
Despite all the complaints most people are willing to pay 5$ per DG. In most cases you expect to get additional maps and other things, too. Well, so do I.
Regarding the release format the light-dark doublepacks are prefered. As well as larger expansion packs.
The most significant trend I see from the numbers (and your comments) is that you distrust the "downloadable content" business model. This is especially interesting because there is no clear trend between release size and $ per demigod. This suggests a psychological issue ... the feeling of getting fleeced for small content updates as opposed to the feeling of appreceation for a full expansion pack. Even if price and content would be identical.
Bad experiences ?
Like before, the current result required a bit of an interpretation effort on my part:
0$: 3 1$: 1 2$: 3 3$: 7 4$: 5 5$: 13 X$: 2
Identified votes: 34
?: 3 1: 5 2: 13 4: 6 8: 5
Identified votes: 32
i would go with 2 per month and i think they should be free because then they will get more people by spread of mouth as in more people will talk about how demigod is releaseing dudes for free if u own the game
As much as I enjoy Demigod and its detailed models/maps, as well as 4 different game modes, I was kinda disappointed that despite paying full price for the retail boxed version, there was only 8 Demigods.[Of which, only the Rook, I felt was worthy of Demigod status, the rest seems too "mortal"]
Don't get me wrong but adding the fact that there is almost inexisting story/campaign mode and that creep models are the same for both side, coupled with mediocre spell graphics [There are much better spell effects in other games such as WC3], having to pay for extra just to get my grubby hands on new Demigods borders on ridiculous.
Furthermore, I find the idea of expansion pack kind of stupid [New maps/items/DGs are really just new updates is it not?], since I do not see them changing the bulk of the Demigod story.
On topic though, I suppose I'll stick with normal free DG and would not buy any unless it is something that looks awesome/epic and would not mind paying 5-10 bucks for a Titan/Demon with the size of the Rook.
Yeah, the others are stylish, but Rook is the only one we can describe as epic.
I heartily disagree. The spell effects in Demigod are the best I have ever seen (with the possible exception of planescape:torment, which was incredible for it's time). You just don't notice the effects because we don't play the game at a zoom level where we'd notice.
Here, just check out the particle effects of an otherwise unspectacular move: Rooks Hammer Slam.
See more here.
Furthermore, I find the idea of expansion pack kind of stupid [New maps/items/DGs are really just new updates is it not?], since I do not see them changing the bulk of the Demigod story.On topic though, I suppose I'll stick with normal free DG and would not buy any unless it is something that looks awesome/epic and would not mind paying 5-10 bucks for a Titan/Demon with the size of the Rook.
I also want epic DGs. But too many of Rooks size can get boring, too. Hmm ... how do we make something visually epic without increasing size...
Nothing not until they fix the lack of content. 8 maps reused for multiple game modes. Bored of em all already. Yhen after that Guess I will jhave to see how good they are.
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