81–90 of 102 posts
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Present. There are a number of games that require internet access - MMOs, some where your save file is online, and some which simply phone home frequently. ie, Assassin's Creed 2.
Not considering MMOs, those other examples sound more like a nuisance (DRM) than an extra service.
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I often find demos to be misleading of what the final product will be like. Games are expensive, at least for me, and demoing the final product is the only way I will know for sure that I am not going to waste $60 if I decide to buy something.
The 90s shareware approach was almost ideal for me from that perspective. I could play 1/3 of Doom and then decide if I wanted to buy the remaining 2/3 or not.
Perhaps then the goal is to have a mutable pricing structure that responds to market pressure. If it really doesn't cost anything to produce 1 additional electronic copy, something like this might work. At launch date / first to market, there is a high price tag for the digital good (whether it be music, game, movie, etc). This is so that the vendor/author can make sure that they can sell at a high price to those "fi…
But then don't old customers feel ripped off for having paid "too much"?
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What if it doesn't really make sense to add online or multiplayer support to the app/game? Then isn't it just the typical DRM anti-feature? I'd be pretty annoyed if I couldn't play my fun new game on a plane because it needs to constantly connect to the internet to prove I didn't steal it.
As somebody who makes a living selling software, I do not consider the author getting paid a minor feature. Apologies for the inconvenience, take it up with 80% of your generation.
Perhaps then the goal is to have a mutable pricing structure that responds to market pressure. If it really doesn't cost anything to produce 1 additional electronic copy, something like this might work. At launch date / first to market, there is a high price tag for the digital good (whether it be music, game, movie, etc). This is so that the vendor/author can make sure that they can sell at a high price to those "fi…
> New customers don't feel like they're getting ripped off - the prices are falling all the time, and you "buy into" a whole discounting structure. But then don't old customers feel ripped off for having paid "too much"?
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Well, if I'm the (non-criminal) customer and you're the game producer, what's wrong with it is that you're making your problem my problem. It isn't, it shouldn't be and I'm not going to let it be (and no, I don't pirate, I just don't buy stuff I dislike).
That's why I said "without crippling the game." You're right, though; most developers will make their problem your problem, either to a small degree (by making sure that some useful things are only accessible for authenticated online clients) or a large degree (requiring always-on connectivity, nutty DRM schemes.) I don't think there's really anything "wrong" with that, though. It's not very fair, but that's how the…
It also often creates the paradox that pirates get a better experience. Once the pirates work around all your antifeatures, the pirated version is actually a better product than the one you're selling (which makes piracy even more tempting).
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I helped my friends pirate the first 10 audiobooks of a series I love, by handing them a flash drive with the MP3s on it, and the condition that if they liked the series they should buy the new ones as they come out. Now 6 of my friends (who never would have been hooked on the series otherwise) own legal versions of the two most recent novels starring our favorite wizard-detective. Those sales would not have been mad…
as a huge fan of audibooks myself: Can you tell me what series you are talking about? (see? Another chance to hook somebody)
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The 90s shareware approach was almost ideal for me from that perspective. I could play 1/3 of Doom and then decide if I wanted to buy the remaining 2/3 or not.
I am not really sure why this died? Ten minute demos are just not enough time to judge a game.
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Strangely, for many years iTunes did not exist because people were "fighting" piracy while Steve Jobs and Apple were repeatedly rebuffed for telling them that they couldn't fight it, instead they had to compete with it. This is covered in his Rolling Stone magazine interview: www.keystonemac.com/pdfs/Steve_Jobs_Interview.pdf
The problem is they have to fight it and compete with it. Doing one without the other will lead to disaster.
"why fight the biggest revolution in information flow since the printing press when you could easily work with it by adding services that actually add some value beyond the free act of making a digital copy?" This is very intelligent insight on the author's part. It's also the same argument that has been staring the RIAA in the face for over a decade: you can't fight the future, so you'd better figure out a better wa…
You certainly can fight the pirates. You perhaps can't win the war, but you don't really have to to make it worthwhile. That's why they keep being fought. I would guess that whatever the RIAA spends on fighting piracy is recouped tenfold in iTunes sales. iTunes would not exist if nobody fought piracy and legitimate business models could be built on it. (i.e. if What.cd had the ability to be a venture-funded startup.)…