More games coming to Steam?

[Indinera]

4) is very difficult to manage and honestly I've got a lot on my plate already.
It is however obvious IMO that if you buy Laxius Force 3 on Aldorlea you contribute to a faster release of LS.

I do not want to force anyone to do anything but "you get what you want". I'm not stupid, if people really wanted LF much more, I would make LS. But in the recent years all they care for is "anything" at the lowest price possible. Well then...

I think if every game bought here came with a matching steam key, it could only be a benefit. You get to fully support the movement of longer games, deeper stories and greater challenges and don't have to pick between platforms. Sounds like a win/win scenario. I would probably rebuy the Aldorlea games I have on steam off of the site if that were the case.

I can't make this automatic but contacting me by email generally works.

[Valdy]

I'm not stupid, if people really wanted LF much more, I would make LS. But in the recent years all they care for is "anything" at the lowest price possible. Well then...

I just wanted to add that I am not one of those gamers who would buy "anything" as long the game is cheap. If I don't like the demo, I won't buy it, no matter how cheap it is. But I don't mind buying a game I want to get anyway at a site where I can get it cheaper.

Take Aveyond 4: When it came out I didn't buy it at Amaranth, because I don't buy games there, only here and at BigFish. So when I saw it out at Amaranth, I couldn't wait to see it offered here. I would have gladly paid the $24 (incl. tax), but to my great surprise, the game came out at BigFish first, and since they have sales going every day of the week, I took advantage of it, and bought the game there at the lower price offered.

Nobody would willingly buy a game at the full price if they can get it cheaper, but that doesn't mean they buy any old game, so long it is cheap. At least, I don't. And it's ony natural that people look around to see where they can get a game for less, especially since most people don't have the money to always pay the full price.

Now, when it comes to game length, I do like them shorter, simply because I get quickly bored. The same happens with Hidden Object Games. Halfway through I am usually bored, and they only take 3 or 4 hours to play. The only exception is Aveyond 4 (took me 40 hours to play), and that tells me how much I enjoyed the variety of the game.

As I said in another thread, what I don't like about many RPGs are the miles and miles of dungeons and caves you have to get through, and which are most likely designed to make the game appear longer.

[Indinera]

I just wanted to add that I am not one of those gamers who would buy "anything" as long the game is cheap. If I don't like the demo, I won't buy it, no matter how cheap it is. But I don't mind buying a game I want to get anyway at a site where I can get it cheaper.

I think most people don't buy a game that has a demo they don't like. The problem lies more in the fact that if they like two demos, they'll buy the cheaper game. People in the majority do not support long, complex games, so these are bound to disappear eventually, esp. considering it's SO MUCH EASIER to make a short game.
I only keep making fairly long games because I like the challenge it represents and the result, I could totally sell out and create a generic 5h game twice a month. Many people do that because it's the easiest way to make money. Most of the players are totally undiscerning.

Take Aveyond 4: When it came out I didn't buy it at Amaranth, because I don't buy games there, only here and at BigFish. So when I saw it out at Amaranth, I couldn't wait to see it offered here. I would have gladly paid the $24 (incl. tax), but to my great surprise, the game came out at BigFish first, and since they have sales going every day of the week, I took advantage of it, and bought the game there at the lower price offered.

Amanda didn't give it to me as fast as she gave it to BFG, here is why.

Nobody would willingly buy a game at the full price if they can get it cheaper, but that doesn't mean they buy any old game, so long it is cheap. At least, I don't. And it's ony natural that people look around to see where they can get a game for less, especially since most people don't have the money to always pay the full price.

It's a race to the bottom that causes the death of long games.
I don't really mind but then people shouldn't wonder why "LS is taking longer".
If you want LS, support its saga, it's as simple as that.

As I said in another thread, what I don't like about many RPGs are the miles and miles of dungeons and caves you have to get through, and which are most likely designed to make the game appear longer.

I like long dungeons as a player and I don't think their sole purpose is to make the game appear longer.
A long dungeon is generally more complex, with a bigger challenge, and more places to explore, items to find etc.
If the game is well designed you get the chance to use your characters much more, their skills, their weapons, to test your knowledge of the game etc.
I would argue a short game is uninteresting because there is nothing or not much to do, it's like comparing a fast food to a 5-course 5-star meal, the level of interest for my palate (and my brain in the case of a game) is not remotely comparable.

[Cassiopeia]

If you want LS, support its saga, it's as simple as that.

It's understandable from your point, but for us Laxius fans it's a bit unfair. We did support the saga when buying the games (and I did more than once as gifts, instead of just giving away the key when this was still pretty easy - before BMT). How else could we support it now?

I like long dungeons as a player and I don't think their sole purpose is to make the game appear longer.
A long dungeon is generally more complex, with a bigger challenge, and more places to explore, items to find etc.
If the game is well designed you get the chance to use your characters much more, their skills, their weapons, to test your knowledge of the game etc.

I agree on that. There's no real challenge when you're through a dungeon in 10 minutes and you hardly get the chance to figure out tactics that work best for you.
However, what I don't really like is dungeons that are so huge that you get totally lost and also tired of doing the same fights over and over again. I guess I like the middle course.

[Indinera]

It's understandable from your point, but for us Laxius fans it's a bit unfair. We did support the saga when buying the games (and I did more than once as gifts, instead of just giving away the key when this was still pretty easy - before BMT). How else could we support it now?

I agree it's a bit unfair for the real fans much like it's unfair for me that people can't tell a difference between fast-to-make games and more complex ones.
Also, I've got a lot of other games, "only" 24h per day, and I need to make choices. Laxius is by far the hardest to make of my games and it's also the one that is getting the less support beyond this community. In all objectivity, given the circs, I've got very little reason to make it top priority.

I agree on that. There's no real challenge when you're through a dungeon in 10 minutes and you hardly get the chance to figure out tactics that work best for you.

Yeah also when you need to fight 3 times in total for the full dungeon and 2 different monsters that only do a normal attack. That kind of stuff typical of short games. If people prefer that because it's cheap, sure, let them. All I'm saying is that devs (not just me) won't bother making longer/more complex games.

However, what I don't really like is dungeons that are so huge that you get totally lost and also tired of doing the same fights over and over again. I guess I like the middle course.

Middle course is good yes. Overly long is a bit hardcore (some like but I can understand others also find it tedious).

[Cassiopeia]

I agree it's a bit unfair for the real fans much like it's unfair for me that people can't tell a difference between fast-to-make games and more complex ones.

If you mean my asking if TKH is really the longest one of your recent games, I'm sorry. I usually do know the difference, but TKH ... well, I explained it in the other thread.

In all objectivity, given the circs, I've got very little reason to make it top priority.

I can tell. But since those circs are not gonna change (or at least not in a way that would encourage making LS), I wonder if it's ever gonna become reality. Guess there might always be reasons to push it down the road.

Middle course is good yes. Overly long is a bit hardcore (some like but I can understand others also find it tedious).

Well, I'm the middle course type anyway I guess. Hence I play every game in normal mode, lol.

[Indinera]

If you mean my asking if TKH is really the longest one of your recent games, I'm sorry. I usually do know the difference, but TKH ... well, I explained it in the other thread.

You're not involved at all lol if everyone was like you the LS trilogy would be finished already xD
It's more people who only care for a small price tag and nothing else. With the market getting saturated, there is a strong emergence of this userbase, and it makes the making of complex games a bit irrelevant.

I can tell. But since those circs are not gonna change (or at least not in a way that would encourage making LS), I wonder if it's ever gonna become reality. Guess there might always be reasons to push it down the road.

The only objective reasons to make it a reality are a) because I like this saga b) to make its fans happy.
I won't say it's a bad money maker, it would be wrong, LF did very well. Outsold MANY of my games. But compared to the time it takes to make, and the difficult of it, it's not quite as profitable as shorter games. Same comment could be said about Asguaard. My best-seller. But, takes way longer to make, is way more difficult because of so many things to check, to fix, to think about.

[Cassiopeia]

f everyone was like you the LS trilogy would be finished already xD

With the market getting saturated

I think that's the point. As long as something is quite new, people get all excited about it. But the more they get used to it, the more easily they get bored. So they rather want stuff they don't have to spend too much time on and switch to something new rather quick. When you lose interest in something it hurts less to just ditch it when it's been cheap.

But compared to the time it takes to make, and the difficult of it, it's not quite as profitable as shorter games.

BUT the sooner it's been made and out, the longer you can make money on it!

[Indinera]

BUT the sooner it's been made and out, the longer you can make money on it!

Same comment works with any game including short ones...

[Cassiopeia]

Guess it would. Hmpf.

Weeell .... maybe to make the waiting a little easier you could give us some hints on the name? There have been a lot of assumptions on what LS actually mean, but we still don't really know.

[Indinera]

I don't really remember what were the closest suggestions... mb one of them was the S word lol

[Cassiopeia]

I also don't remember all of them, but I think people went a lot for Laxius Souls. Or Spirit?

[Indinera]

Souls, could be

[Cassiopeia]

Could be?????

[Totinos]

4) is very difficult to manage and honestly I've got a lot on my plate already.
It is however obvious IMO that if you buy Laxius Force 3 on Aldorlea you contribute to a faster release of LS.

I do not want to force anyone to do anything but "you get what you want". I'm not stupid, if people really wanted LF much more, I would make LS. But in the recent years all they care for is "anything" at the lowest price possible. Well then...

I think if every game bought here came with a matching steam key, it could only be a benefit. You get to fully support the movement of longer games, deeper stories and greater challenges and don't have to pick between platforms. Sounds like a win/win scenario. I would probably rebuy the Aldorlea games I have on steam off of the site if that were the case.

I can't make this automatic but contacting me by email generally works.

Maybe put on the games page "Free Steam key with purchase" or "Free steam key if this game ever gets added". Then at least people know and maybe a better chance to buy form a website.

Like you said though if someone could pay 30 dollars for a game and someone could pay 5 dollars for the same game 9/10 will pick 5 dollars. It's only the people that know about what buying the 30 dollar game means that will be loyal and maybe can convince others too. Then maybe close to 2/10 or 3/10. Also people like to complete everything so having an extra map or dungeon exclusive to Aldorea could help. Then maybe after 6 months - 1 year can sell it on steam as deluxe version if at all.

Now that I understand how it works I will buy all games from the website and explain to others the positive reasons to do the same. Hopefully that will help S a little and give you hope to make more long games.