Free To Play/ $5 or GTFO

[chocomini]

This is without a doubt, a Free to Play game.
After it is out of Beta and the full game is released, it should be free to play. 
If not free to play, then it should be $5 or less. A game like this is not worth $15, it shouldn't even be more than $10.
I love the game, and am willing to purchase it, but not at these prices.
Games like 'Planetside 2' and 'Fallen Earth' are so much larger, have godly amount of detail and quality compared to PZ, and they are Free To Play.

Sincerely, a logical fan.

[harakka]

Game prices aren't determined based on a value/dollar calculation, but based on what people are willing to pay and what the developers, publishers and other people taking their cut need to keep their business afloat, and preferably, profitable.

 

Edit: you, as a consumer, are of course perfectly allowed to use such calculation to make your purchasing decisions. However since there are free games available, that means you can get entertainment for free, so I don't know why you'd ever pay anything for a game ever again.

[Xadhoom]

This is without a doubt, a Free to Play game.

After it is out of Beta and the full game is released, it should be free to play. 

If not free to play, then it should be $5 or less. A game like this is not worth $15, it shouldn't even be more than $10.

I love the game, and am willing to purchase it, but not at these prices.

Games like 'Planetside 2' and 'Fallen Earth' are so much larger, have godly amount of detail and quality compared to PZ, and they are Free To Play.

Sincerely, a logical fan.

That's your opinion.

I gladly payed 12€ even if it was just an alpha, since this game is pretty unique... probably when it will be released i could buy it for about 25€ (i already decided i'll gift it to a couple of friends when it will be released), and since it is on Steam it will probably be discounted now and then.

This is my opinion.

[Rathlord]

I'm sorry, but calling that logic is equivalent to calling a banana an orange.

One can't simply judge the price of a game by content. Business model, scope, team size, and development costs must be taken into account.

Your post shows a complete misunderstanding of the economics of game development. While you may think you know what you're talking about as a gamer, but that doesn't qualify you to make judgement calls about a game's price.

If PZ isn't worth the money for you, don't buy it, but I assure you that for the many, many, many people who have puts hundreds if not thousands of hours into this game, it's completely worth it.

Te biggest fallacy of all, though, is that you think *your* perceived value of a game should dictate is worth. That shows not only a shocking amount of not understanding the game industry, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of the most basic tenets of economics and value in general.

[Ontogenesis]

Value is subjective.
A better determinant would be consensus. The majority of people are willing to pay the current price for the game without qualm, thus the price is valid.

 

Besides, I would never work for free. Unless you would?

[Kajin]

I bought the game before it came to Steam and I thought it was worth it then. Now that it is on Steam, PZ is selling like hotcakes. For fifteen dollars. A lot of people find it worth the price tag.

[Dr_Cox1911]

Hm, let me count a sec...

I buyed PZ five times when the price was ~5€, one fanboy edition for 39,99€ and then recently five copies for 13,99€. This sums up to 134,94€. Do I regret even one purchase? Hell no!

 

Would I play the game if it was f2p? Nope, not a chance! Did someone force me (or you) to buy the game? Nope.

Do I love the devs: hell yeah!

[nasKo]

Because Free To Play is such a good model for games, nowadays, right? So fun. Nice pay to win. So hip. Much satisfaction.

 

Get the bleach subscription for 14.99 NOW! Get the fresh glasses pack for 19.99!!! Don't miss out on nxt month's deal - "10 nails for 2.99"!!!!

[TheChaosOfCreation]

Free-to-pay models are fucking bullshit. Have you even played planetside 2 without a subscription? It takes fucking FOREVER to get enough certs to get anything without paying with any of your own money. If you seriously want project zomboid to have a similar model (which it will have to as you cant maintain a game without a cash-flow) than your a buffoon.   

[Kajin]

Keep it civil, Chaos.

 

 

Because Free To Play is such a good model for games, nowadays, right? So fun. Nice pay to win. So hip. Much satisfaction.

 

Get the bleach subscription for 14.99 NOW! Get the fresh glasses pack for 19.99!!! Don't miss out on nxt month's deal - "10 nails for 2.99"!!!!

Such Doge. Much Excite.

[TheChaosOfCreation]

Keep it civil, Chaos.

 

 

Because Free To Play is such a good model for games, nowadays, right? So fun. Nice pay to win. So hip. Much satisfaction.

 

Get the bleach subscription for 14.99 NOW! Get the fresh glasses pack for 19.99!!! Don't miss out on nxt month's deal - "10 nails for 2.99"!!!!

Such Doge. Much Excite.

See its civil now!

[RobertJohnson]

Like we have the same team as PlanetSide2, haha.

 

We're not Sony, we're independant studio, Free to play generally mean pay 2 win, and we reaaaalllyyy don't want to become that kind of game.

[k12314]

Like we have the same team as PlanetSide2, haha.

 

We're not Sony, we're independant studio, Free to play generally mean pay 2 win, and we reaaaalllyyy don't want to become that kind of game.

 

That and you guys gotta pay the team, right? I mean, you can't just magically pull money out of your ass to pay everyone.

[RoboMat]

I love the game

Then $ 14.99 is a small price to pay.

[Valourant]

$15 is over priced especially for an unfinished alpha with bugs. You might have some sort of argument if it was a complete game.

 

Even if it was a complete game, a reasonable price would be 9.99$. I myself only buy games on steam when there is a 75% off sale. If that means only during the summer sale on steam than so be it. But your game will eventually have a 75% off sale. Time doesn't matter, and in fact the more I wait the better and cheaper the game gets. Your better off making a kickstarter campaign if you want to fund your alpha and development. You can make 80,000$ with a kick starter campaign all because there will always be those few people willing to pay $1500. Pricing the whole game high wasn't good for popularity. If this is your first game that you made as an Indie developer than you should be aiming for exposure, popularity, public approval over a quick buck that will quickly vanish in 3 years. Having your game known and played all over the world is way more valuable than money.

[Rathlord]

Valourant I can't take your post seriously after you feel the need to quanlify alpha with the terms "unfinished" and "buggy." Methinks you may not understand the term.

The indie Stone has been working on this game since 2011. Calling it both a "quick buck" and a bad pricing model is made hilarious by the fact that *its working just fine for them*. Why the hell would they do a Kickstarter (which, by the way, wasn't really a big thing in 2011) when they could do it this way just fine?

[harakka]

Having your game known and played all over the world is way more valuable than money.

Money, however, is what enables working on the game and eating and living under a roof at the same time. For the persons making the game, the latter factors are arguably more valuable than having your game known and played all over the world.

[Dr_Cox1911]

Having your game known and played all over the world is way more valuable than money.

 

You know that this is already the case? PZ-players are all around the world.

My assumption: You are kinda angry that you haven´t known the game earlier to get it at desura for 5€/$.

 

 

Even if it was a complete game, a reasonable price would be 9.99$.

How do you justify this statement? 

[nasKo]

$15 is over priced especially for an unfinished alpha with bugs. You might have some sort of argument if it was a complete game.

 

Even if it was a complete game, a reasonable price would be 9.99$. I myself only buy games on steam when there is a 75% off sale. If that means only during the summer sale on steam than so be it. But your game will eventually have a 75% off sale. Time doesn't matter, and in fact the more I wait the better and cheaper the game gets. Your better off making a kickstarter campaign if you want to fund your alpha and development. You can make 80,000$ with a kick starter campaign all because there will always be those few people willing to pay $1500. Pricing the whole game high wasn't good for popularity. If this is your first game that you made as an Indie developer than you should be aiming for exposure, popularity, public approval over a quick buck that will quickly vanish in 3 years. Having your game known and played all over the world is way more valuable than money.

Opinions.

 

Kerbal Space Program 26.99 USD

Nether 29.99 USD

Assetto Corsa 39.99 USD

Space Engineers 14.99 USD

Planetary Annihilation 59.99 USD

Prison Architect 29.99

Age of Decadence 24.99 USD

Contagion 14.99 USD

Godus 19.99 USD

Castle Story 19.99 USD

Might & Magic X - Legacy 29.99 USD

Spacebase DF-9 24.99 USD

Blackguards 24.99 USD

The Dead Linger 19.99 USD

Vox 9.99 USD

Audiosurf 2 14.99 USD

Starpoint Gemini 2 19.99 USD

Star Forge 19.99 USD

 

All those overpriced games in the Top 20 Early Access Sellers and only one single game is priced 9.99 USD.

The fact that you only buy games on a 75% discount doesn't really validate your opinion that 15 USD are overpriced.

 

You're missing something.

[Ontogenesis]

Hah, thoses ideals are lovely but they won't put food on the table or pay for the roof over your head. I very much doubt you'll be saying the same thing when you're fincially independent. Don't get me wrong, its important that your values guide your work and life, but you need to be realistic too.

Alpha funding is a good model, but like all it has its advantages and disadvantages.

[Valourant]

So because everyone charges 30$ you will too? Equivelant to jumping off a bridge. I don't buy any of those games. I don't even own a single one of them. Chances are whoever bought them waited for a steam sale. Vox is the only sane developer there. Contagion is on my wish list for when its on sale. Opinions can be wrong. And I'm telling you, Your opinion on the price of your game, is wrong. Today $5 is like a Venti Coffee at starbucks. But games are also getting boring, the economy is bad, and so on. If I bought every game I ever wanted I'd be living on the street. The bonus is I don't pirate games. I actually do buy them. You should acknowlegde that my "opinion" is not secluded to just 1 crazy poor kid. Millions of people are like me, and we are the majority. You'd stand to make more money if your game was $9.99, as opposed to $14.99. You can easily test this. Do a 25% off sale, when its $9.99 record the increase in sales, and units sold. And you can calculate how much more money you'd be making if it was always $9.99. You don't need to argue 14.99 is the best price, it's easy to test the optimal price for profit. Though I suppose in a marketing sense, it's best to hit every price point. That way you get every demographic to buy your game. So you should have a 75% off sale. You should probably also sell the game for $15. And then have a $9.99 sale too.

 

http://www.utrend.tv/v/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact/

 

Guess who can afford PC games.

[harakka]

Opinions can be wrong. And I'm telling you, Your opinion on the price of your game, is wrong. Today $5 is like a Venti Coffee at starbucks. But games are also getting boring, the economy is bad, and so on. If I bought every game I ever wanted I'd be living on the street. The bonus is I don't pirate games. I actually do buy them. You should acknowlegde that my "opinion" is not secluded to just 1 crazy poor kid. Millions of people are like me, and we are the majority.

Can you provide evidence on your opinion being right, everyone else's being wrong, and there being millions of people like you, and you being the majority? Otherwise your opinion is just as likely to be wrong than the other guy's.

 

Edit: No-one in this thread is claiming your opinion (it doesn't become any less your opinion by using quotation marks) is not secluded to just 1 poor kid. However the truth of the rest of your claim doesn't follow from that.

[Dr_Cox1911]

The game is priced as £9,99. I don´t no if TIS can set the price for every currencie but I think Steam definitely does his own thing. The game is even cheaper at desura (atleast in €).

 

And could you please respond to my questions in my other post?

Why haven´t you bought the game before the steam-release if you don´t want the pay the current price?

[RoboMat]

So because everyone charges 30$ you will too? Equivelant to jumping off a bridge. I don't buy any of those games. I don't even own a single one of them. Chances are whoever bought them waited for a steam sale. Vox is the only sane developer there. Contagion is on my wish list for when its on sale. Opinions can be wrong. And I'm telling you, Your opinion on the price of your game, is wrong. Today $5 is like a Venti Coffee at starbucks. But games are also getting boring, the economy is bad, and so on. If I bought every game I ever wanted I'd be living on the street. The bonus is I don't pirate games. I actually do buy them. You should acknowlegde that my "opinion" is not secluded to just 1 crazy poor kid. Millions of people are like me, and we are the majority. You'd stand to make more money if your game was $9.99, as opposed to $14.99. You can easily test this. Do a 25% off sale, when its $9.99 record the increase in sales, and units sold. And you can calculate how much more money you'd be making if it was always $9.99. You don't need to argue 14.99 is the best price, it's easy to test the optimal price for profit. Though I suppose in a marketing sense, it's best to hit every price point. That way you get every demographic to buy your game. So you should have a 75% off sale. You should probably also sell the game for $15. And then have a $9.99 sale too.

 

http://www.utrend.tv/v/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact/

 

Guess who can afford PC games.

Well thanks for your input on the pricing policy although I don't think that TIS is likely to follow it. If you ever found a indie-gaming company you shall apply that business model as it sounds pretty good.

Best of luck from me.

[PlasticandRage]

Because Free To Play is such a good model for games, nowadays, right? So fun. Nice pay to win. So hip. Much satisfaction.

 

Get the bleach subscription for 14.99 NOW! Get the fresh glasses pack for 19.99!!! Don't miss out on nxt month's deal - "10 nails for 2.99"!!!!

 

Aw man! YES! Microtransactions are awesome! We need some of those now. NOW! This whole time that's exactly what we've been missing. Can't believe that this whole time the answers been right in front of us and we haven't seen it until now. Haaaaa. Silly us.