[Vince]

Is there something you can do for the positive reviews from those who get a steam key while they got it for free after a BMT support ? Many from this option are the longtime fans of your game(s), but if Steam doesn't take in account their reviews, it's unfair I guess.

We can't do anything about it (other than moving away from direct sales in the future). I understand why Steam did it - developers get as many keys as they need and often traded them for reviews (there was even a mini-industry quickly developing to offer this 'service' to developers). The only way to stop it was to remove 'free key' reviews from the total rating.

[AbounI]

Sounds rather logical. I hope you won't choose to stop your direct sales like BMT for TNW 

[Vince]

Hard to say. We lost over 200 reviews when Steam changed the system, which dropped the rating from 86% to 81. Had it pushed AoD to 79%, sales would have suffered. So while direct sales offer a short-term benefit, the long-term benefit of selling only via Steam and GOG would have to be considered as well.

[Goral]

How much does BMT take of your profits? Steam takes away 30%, GOG probably something similar but what about BMT? And I wonder how long will the links be valid.

[Vince]

How much does BMT take of your profits?

10% which is fair. We can't set up credit card payments and demo hosting for less. Credit card % is based on volume, so very low volume like ours would cost us 8% if we do it ourselves. Plus all the hassle of processing payments, dealing with fraudulent transactions, etc.

Steam takes away 30%, GOG probably something similar but what about BMT? And I wonder how long will the links be valid.

For as long as we remain their customers I assume. I can easily generate new download links for every customer so it's not a problem.

[AbounI]

And obviously, no mention of boxed edition for TNW ? I wonder if a steam key from a simple boxed game can count in their review system.

[Vince]

And obviously, no mention of boxed edition for TNW?

Too early to gauge interest in the game in general.

I wonder if a steam key from a simple boxed game can count in their review system.

Steam has no way of tracking whether a key is bought or given away for free (in exchange for a review).

[Scott]

I feel like devs seriously underestimate the costs associated with boxed editions, especially the time cost. Hard to imagine it ever being worth it.

[Stellavore]

Much respect to feargus, ive been following him around since fallout 2. I will definitely go review dungeon rats when i get home as i thoroughly enjoyed it. Id put myself in the 25% playerbase for ITS but i thought id mention a few things. I found out about AOD through splattercat, an indie reviewer on youtube. I feel like youtube reviews are your strongest promotion medium because on initial glance your game looks like a potato made for the N64. Obviously AOD is not a potato but first impressions are important.
Second as a major buyer on steam and someone who has way more games than ill ever play i really have to cherry pick what i buy or i risk wasting money and hitting myself over the head for that. For that reason i spend less time contenplating if the price is worth it but more time contemplating if i will actually play and finish this game. Not saying to jack up your price, as i really held back on wasteland 2 as i thought it was overpriced for a shitty looking indie game (they were riding the brand name for sure), but i dont think pricepoint is as important as you think it is (to hit it home the thing i regret the most about puchasing wasteland 2 isnt how much i paid but the fact that i couldnt finish it because it was boring), what im saying is in the same set amount of time if you jack up the price to 30 and have it on sale for 15 you will sell more copies than just selling it for 15 outright, as a mildly financially successful gamer my time is much more important than my gaming money, and keep in mind that as old school rpg makers you are appealing to an older crowd who might feel the same way as i do, maybe.....
On to more design related things, what makes AOD great is the world its in, when i was a kid i played this game called Dark Sun: Shattered Lands and AOD instantly took me back. You cant roleplay in an RPG if you dont have an interesting exciting and immersive world to roleplay in, its what drew me to fallout shadowrun and even older ones like betrayal at krondor, that said one thing that peeves me about tyranny wasteland and shadowrun is you cannot make the character you want, if you are going to let us make our own character then give us visual options to do so, or else put effort into making interesting players to choose from. Customizeable characters arent a box you just check off. Going back to my time being worth more than my money one thing i think you guys dont do right is denying part of the game/story based on your player build. Its realistic which i can appreciate but incovenient, replaying a game, unlike rereading a book is the laziest form of filler. I realize people might disagree on this, but when i played AOD the first time i saw probably half the content, it really turned me off and the 2nd time i attempted the game much much later i scoured the internet for a do everything build and basicslly followed a walkthrough, not fun. The art of it is making hard things feel accomplished while making them accessable to everyone, not just people who replay it many times or go data mining for stat requirements.
I think thats everything that i could think of as i was reading the article. One thing i should say is that i envy you guys, ive always been a gamer and wanted to design my own but abandoned that idea for what i thought (and still think i guess) was a more financially stable career. You guys are living my dream in a small way, and hopefully when i get older i can take a step in that direction.
And maybe its just me, but i thought shadowrun hong kong was fucking awesome, 10x better than the original, and i didnt even finish dragonfall.

[Sodomy]

• core supporters - 25% - love it, want more.
• core haters - 10% - fucking hate it, will never buy another ITS game again.
• kinda liked it - 50% - liked it but ... This "but" ranges from minor to major issues.
• meh - 15% - played for a couple of hours and moved on, no strong emotions, no urge to play more.

There's a fifth category; people who fucking hated AoD but liked Dead State enough that they might be interested in further ITS stuff when the price falls hard enough.

[Vince]

That's a pretty big might, considering that Dead State was written and designed by another developer (i.e. no reason for them to expect a game like DS from us ever again).

[Sodomy]

Y'all parted ways with Annie and Brian entirely?  Damn

Guess I don't need to be interested in future ITS stuff

(Also, I hadn't even heard of Dungeon Rats until reading this thread earlier today, so the marketing effort -- or lack thereof -- might have a role in its disappointing sales.)

[Vince]

Y'all parted ways with Annie and Brian entirely?  Damn

It was a one-time thing from the start. We were happy to help Brian but we don't have the resources to work on multiple projects on a regular basis.

Guess I don't need to be interested in future ITS stuff

Looks like it.

Also, I hadn't even heard of Dungeon Rats until reading this thread earlier today, so the marketing effort -- or lack thereof -- might have a role in its disappointing sales.

Such games are nearly impossible to market, especially for small indie studios. It's a combat spin-off so even if the media wanted to write something nice about it, they wouldn't be able to say much.

[Vince]

Sales 2018 year-to-date:

AoD: 5,917 copies, $42,498, $7.18 avg
DR: 2,810 copies, $11,765, $4.19 avg

$54,263 in 4 months. If the trend continues we should expect to sell roughly 20,000 copies of AoD vs 43,000 last year and about 10,000 copies of DR in 2018. Between 150 and 180k for the year, which is less than half of what we sold in 2017 ($389,114).

[Pladio]

Sales 2018 year-to-date:

AoD: 5,917 copies, $42,498, $7.18 avg
DR: 2,810 copies, $11,765, $4.19 avg

$54,263 in 4 months. If the trend continues we should expect to sell roughly 20,000 copies of AoD vs 43,000 last year and about 10,000 copies of DR in 2018. Between 150 and 180k for the year, which is less than half of what we sold in 2017 ($389,114).

Would that be an issue financially for you and the team ?