Downloading Installment Games.

Downloading Installment Games.

Frankly I have mixed feelings about the trend of downloading what is in fact one game divided in three of four installments. Although relatively new to adventure games it’s hardly new as a marketing ploy. Downloading is no problem if you happen to live in a good reception area but can be a real pain if you don’t and then, as others have posted; some have problems in getting the game to play even when the download is complete.

Another point is that not all games are great to play for various reasons determined by our own preferences. I, as I’m sure many have some games which I have never finished but I have paid for the disc so at least the developer has received his costs whether I played the game or not. but if the first episode of a game is not to your liking or trying to get it to play was a nightmare, would you be prepared to shell out your hard earned cash for the next two or three instalments?

Presumably the developer has paid for part or for the complete costs of the whole game to the distributor so if a game is not selling it’s hardly a good deal.

I know that some may say that they are not installments of the same game but are three or four separate games and true because I have never played any so I don’t know if the developers have yet to use the cliff hanger approach but I have a sneaking feeling they will do, its all part of the marketing ploy i.e. find out if Tracy can escape from the clutches of the evil Troll and can Dirk find the missing page of the diary?

I have never had any qualms of paying the full cost of the games I’ve purchased but I feel, rightly or wrongly, that buying a game that is not complete but divided is paying two or more times for the same product.

Since I don't have much time to play, I enjoy episodes. If it's the only way they can afford to complete the games, I understand that too. I can see how those that have a lot of time to play would prefer to get the whole experience at one time.

In case they cannot finish the entire series I think each episode needs some kind of closure though.

I try to stay clear of episodic games. I prefer to wait for the full game to become available. I would not like playing episode 1 then waiting 6 months or MORE for episode 2 - and that's IF it gets published at all.

I waited to download "Cognition" in its entirety which worked out real well for me.

I don't have mixed feelings at all.
I do not like downloading games.
I do not like episodic format.
Nothing "mixed" about it.

However a DRM-free download is better than a disc version with DRM that prevents the game from playing.

Episodic games are a symptom of the fact that many publishers of disc versions (Lace Mamba, Dreamcatcher, Digital Jesters, etc.) did not pay developers as was contracted -- so many developers (the people who actually made the games) went out of business because they never received the money for their work. Those that didn't go out of business looked for a different way of distributing games which was less costly for them. So we have crowdfunding and games distributed in episodic format. It's because of lack of money by the developers and thieving business practices by certain publishers in the past that we're stuck with this.

If you don't like episodes, you can wait until all the episodes are finished before buying, as Sureshot described.

Another advantage to waiting for the complete set of episodes is that generally (not always)that the completed set when finally released is sold at a discount to what you would have paid if you bought one episode at a time.

Sure that’s fine i.e. wait for the completed game then buy at a discount that's probably what I will do but that’s hardly good news for the developers waiting for a return for their work; cash flow problems comes to mind.

I know nothing about the gaming industry and bow to others that do but purely as a business thought. Game developers are distributed world wide and each are probably small individual companies and so are easy meat for the larger marketing consortium's.

Why don’t they unite under one umbrella and form a collective company to market their games? I know there are problems but what’s the alternative?

The idea is that they don't have money to complete beyond the first episode. Selling that episode helps get money to make the next one.


I think Wadjet Eye and Phoenix Online do this to some extent. But they are not large enough companies that they can release physical versions at the time the game is released. Considering what happened with Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, where a huge patch was necessary to download if you bought the boxed version, it's probably better to get the bugs out before releasing the physical version.

I also like to wait until all the installments/episodes are completed before I start a game. Sometimes, if it's a game I'm really anticipating, the wait is more difficult if I have access to episodes. That said, I'm not too wild about this trend toward episodic games.

As far as price is concerned, it seems to me that they are always offering the "Season Pass" option where you can pay for the whole game and download the episodes as they become available. So, for me, it's not the price but the having to wait for each episode.

I waited for all the episodes of Back to The Future before I played it and have all the episodes of the Wolf Among Us but haven't gotten around to playing it yet as other games came along and took priority. I'm doing my best to wait for the completion of Dreamfall Chapters and The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 and so far am winning. There's also The Silver Lining but I'm not sure that I'll see Episode 5 in my lifetime even though the developers keep saying they're working on it.

Anyway episodic games, to me, are a little too frustrating as I don't have the patience to wait for each episode.

"Anyway episodic games, to me, are a little too frustrating as I don't have the patience to wait for each episode."

I do have the patience to wait - but there's always that little "nag" that the game might not actually get completed.
So unless each "episode" has a more or less complete storyline it makes no difference to me whether I've paid for a download or a disk

There is the reverse of releasing episodes of a game, and that's a company buying the rights to a game then re-releasing that game in episodes.

That would be Anuman. I despise that!

And it is even worse when they remove puzzles and interactivity that were in the original game.

All under the ridiculous premise they are doing it to convert casual gamers into adventurers.

Ana

I just hope this doesn’t spell the end for us disk lovers. One choice is no choice at all.

Companies take for granite everyone has access to the web, so it only makes since to them that's where sales should be concentrated. But what companies don't realize is that a portion of gamers don't have access to the web and depend on purchases from stores if they wish to play their favorite type games. Because this portion is repetitively small, in comparison to those on the web, companies can garner higher sales through web offerings so don't worry about losses from store purchases.

If all gamers would refuse to purchase from only one type of media, download on the web, it would force those companies who wanted to stay in business, and make a profit, to once again offer games on mixed media. Not only would this method increase sales but would eliminate alienation of those who don't have web access.

Unfortunately customers very seldom recognize the collected power they have.

I hate to bust your bubble, but I speak from knowledge, not just my opinion. I have a ton of developer friends and we speak daily. Boycotting downloaded adventure games will not get you retail adventure games, it will get you no adventure games at all. The loss of profit in an already low profit business will cause the developers to shut down. YOu do not have the numbers you think you have for them to sell adventure games in retail stores. Why do you think they disappeared to begin with? RPG, FPS, MMO and Action games is where the shelf space in stores go and that is mostly for XBox, PlayStation etc. THe PC sections are small and mostly casual games. The stores pay a lot for their overhead and they will stock the shelves with what sells in the largest quantity.

Burning disks, making boxes, shipping to stores, using resources to promote the game to retail stores all take money away from the developers. Most adventure game companies are small. They are not the multi-million dollar enterprises you see with Darkside game studios. Most of these folks have day jobs to supplement while they create the games because they need to eat. Why do you think all the Kickstarter and IndieGogo's are running? It's the only way they can make it a reality.

Boycott if you want but don't complain about the lack of good games available to play.

Ana

I agree, Ana.

We that are in the business have known these for years - a decade at least. We watch and we try to help but even the gamers that should back us up does not.

Instead of boycotting - why not support Adventure Game Developers.

Ana no ones talking about any boycott, certainly not me, its just not going to happen. Adventure players are individuals, not Trade Unionists; there maybe a few who have trouble with downloads etc. who won't want to repeat the experience but a boycott? no as I said its not going to happen.
As for supporting Adventure Game Developers, every game we buy supports the developers but its not a personal thing. if playing their game is enjoyable then I will look out for their next game if it was not enjoyable then I won't. Further more no one as I see who has contributed to this thread has an issue with the Game Developers, its the Distributors there's misgivings about.