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DRM done right: Puppygames

puppygames.net

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Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#51

Post by wtracy »

princec wrote: post #50

hello everyone! This is Cas from Puppygames. It's been very interesting reading this thread (thanks ewj for posting!) A few straight from the horses mouth facts: I sat down and worked out what our revenues are, and they work out as $750/month over the last 7 years. Out of that, we pay for hosting, advertising, accountancy, and tax, leaving about $400/month and then Chaz and I split the remainder. Chaz just about scra…

My theory (I have absolutely no evidence to back this up) is that there's a level where there's no point reducing the price because the psychological cost of digging out a credit card, typing in the number, and wondering if you can really trust this merchant, is actually higher than the cost of the money you're forking out.

For me, if I'm not willing to buy it at $20, I'm probably not going to buy it online at all. Other people seem to have a threshold closer to $15 or $10.

Note that this doesn't apply in app store situations where your carrier already has your billing information. (Hence all the successful 99-cent iPhone games.)

Also, ignore the "feeble excuses" from the "piratey types"--they're just that, excuses.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#52

Post by wtracy »

cookiecaper wrote: post #17

They should just take all of this out and tout that they are DRM-free. If they trusted the user as they claim, they wouldn't feel like they needed to revert your refunded full game into a demo. Lots of people would have no problem registering the game to "Sir Pantsy Higginbothom " and then what good does their little name screen do? If they always reset your registration count no questions asked, there is no point in…

It looks like their "DRM" is more nagware than DRM.

You can pirate it easily enough, but it forces you to admit to yourself that you are doing something ethically dubious in the process.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#53

Post by ido »

princec wrote: post #50

hello everyone! This is Cas from Puppygames. It's been very interesting reading this thread (thanks ewj for posting!) A few straight from the horses mouth facts: I sat down and worked out what our revenues are, and they work out as $750/month over the last 7 years. Out of that, we pay for hosting, advertising, accountancy, and tax, leaving about $400/month and then Chaz and I split the remainder. Chaz just about scra…

Excuses is exactly what they are.

The overriding reason people pirate is that they can something for free, so why pay for it?

When I was a poor student I pirated games too, but now that I'm a somewhat well payed software developer I buy pretty much every (mostly indie) game I play (and quite a few I end up not playing) because ~$20 every month or two is simply not an amount of money I will notice missing.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#54

Post by princec »

city41 wrote: post #36
ido wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK there is just one programmer, and he is on the LWJGL team but is by no means the only LWJGL developer. There might be someone else working with him, I couldn't really find anything about it. EDIT: apparently there are 2 people, Cas & Chaz: http://www.javagaming.org/index.php/topic,23005.msg190715.ht...

And in that thread he did confirm they only make $250/month, split two ways. That's sad. I bought their first game years ago (I forgot it's name, but it doesn't appear to be for sale anymore). It was really good.

Alien Flux. Thrice cursed. Mention it not.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#55

Post by c-oreills »

eli wrote: post #48
c-oreills wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think their point is "we've left it loose because we trust you". They say their demos will automatically become the full version if they can't find a Puppygames server on first run. You don't _need_ to hack the game, if you're so inclined to get it for free they've made it easy for you. They're encouraging a culture of trust between you and them, in the hope you'll thank them for it and actually pay for the game. N…

Hey, I'm totally down with that attitude. My point is that if your DRM is going to be so minimal anyway, why bother? It doesn't seem like this approach is likely to convince very many people to buy the software who wouldn't otherwise, and it surely takes time and resources to set up and run.

I think it plays on the psychology of concession. If you make me a concession then I'm more likely to do you a favour.

They're saying, "We've made DRM, but we don't want to inconvenience our paying users, so the DRM will be incredibly forgiving and infact can be easily circumvented by someone with little technical skill".

I think their potential customers would look at that and be more inclined to buy the games, because it appears they've been done more of a favour when a company cuts back on DRM, even at the expense of their potential income, as opposed to if they simply released the game for free.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#56

Post by cookiecaper »

middayc wrote: post #29
cookiecaper wrote: post #17

They should just take all of this out and tout that they are DRM-free. If they trusted the user as they claim, they wouldn't feel like they needed to revert your refunded full game into a demo. Lots of people would have no problem registering the game to "Sir Pantsy Higginbothom " and then what good does their little name screen do? If they always reset your registration count no questions asked, there is no point in…

Do you have a credit card for that Sir Pantsy Higginbothom?

Do they use the name of the credit card holder? I hope not, because that can cause lots of issues. What if you're a kid and use your mom's card? What if you borrow a friend's card because you don't like banks? What if you use a company card because you're a game developer and it's a legitimate expense to research competitors? etc.

I assume that like most places, they register a separate name that you provide, not necessarily linked to your card.

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#57

Post by kaffiene »

princec wrote: post #54
city41 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in that thread he did confirm they only make $250/month, split two ways. That's sad. I bought their first game years ago (I forgot it's name, but it doesn't appear to be for sale anymore). It was really good.

Alien Flux. Thrice cursed. Mention it not.

Why?

Re: DRM done right: Puppygames

#59

Post by ido »

princec wrote: post #58
kaffiene wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Total failure of a product which did almost everything just exactly wrong. Wasted a year of my life on it before I realised it was a total flop.

Sounds like there are some lessons hidden in there...I personally would love hearing the story, a post-mortem of sorts :)
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