| roqua |
May 21st, 2007 03:51 |
No idea and not more than two-years ago I believe. A new game, Durghal (or something like that), is being made. Then Wolf will make Tudegar 2.
edit: forum is back up so here is copie and pastes of his reasoning, there are 2 posts:
1)
Quote:
Hello Igor,
I will consider this as an additional option. (For all who may be wondering, at present, there is neither a Demo not a Full Version of DARGHUL available, neither downloadable nor on CD, because this game is still under development and not yet released.)
Most people seem to like to receive a real CD; but for those who don't, it'd certainly make sense. With my present method of physical delivery by Deutsche Post / DHL, customers within Germany usually receive their full version one or two days after ordering, but delivery to the U.S. seems to take about 5 days - and there have been cases where it actually took more than 10 days. This is clearly unacceptable; and to avoid any possibility of such delays, instant delivery via downloading might really be a good idea for non-European customers.
However, a great advantage (developer's point of view) of shipping CDs is that it effectively stops credit card fraud, because it simply makes no sense to use a stolen credit card number when you have to specify your postal address for delivery. Consequently, I have never experienced any instance of fraud so far. But according to what I hear from other developers, credit card fraud seems to be a significant problem for those who distribute their full versions as downloadable versions or unlock codes. Apart from the hassle for all non-criminal parties involved in such cases, the resulting chargebacks cause considerable fees for the seller. Such a fee might be about as much as I'd earn from selling 5 or more full versions - that means, assuming that 5% of transactions were fraudulent, I'd have to sell 30% more full versions to cover the resulting extra costs. That's quite a lot.
Well, I'll be thinking this over; I need to check providers and their conditions for offering this kind of downloads; and I'll have to once again consult with some other developers on this subject, and do some additional research before making a decision.
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2)
Quote:
Hi J P Marshall III, thank you for this warning.
Yes, there's obviously a problem with unlock codes. Apart from keygens and cracks, sales will be cut in half if someone publishes just one single unlock code on the internet. (And sales won't be great to start with, anyway; I know few shareware authors who can make a living from their work. Writing shareware is a bit like the music industry - a handful of top names who manage to reach a great sales volume make money, sometimes a lot of it, but the majority of developers can be happy if their sales cover their costs.)
So once a code has been published, an author would have to deactivate it in future versions. I've heard of authors who search the web for published unlock codes and then release new versions of their software, with these codes blocked, every single week. Of course the old versions will still be around (CDs, shareware web sites that actually host and not just link, etc), so while that may limit the damage, it won't undo it. If one doesn't use unlock codes, the software will get pirated the old-fashioned way via warez-sites, though that won't reach as many people, since there's greater risk in downloading and installing a piece of software from an obscure source than in simply googling for a code and then typing in what one has found.
Many people find it difficult to pay for software or music. "Oh, it'll be all right if I just get it for free; of course the author needs to be paid for his work, but surely SOMEONE ELSE will buy the software." Problem with human behaviour is, when there's a chance to avoid costs, virtually everyone will take it. There usually will not be SOMEONE ELSE, or, at best, very very few of them.
In my point of view, for a developer, it's a question of focus. Most people will never buy my software. Most will never use it, many will simply uninstall it when they've finished the Demo part, and some will steal it. Too bad, but that's life, and these people aren't really my business. I'll try to win over as many of them as I can, but if I can't, well. Since all of my income comes from the very few who are actually willing to buy my software, my main task is to focus on these great people, and to do my utmost to satisfy them.
So convenience of buying and speedy delivery are extremely important issues for me. I'll do all I can to make buying and receiving my software as convenient as possible for my customers. If that causes more piracy, so be it. Since potential pirates and potential customers usually are not the same groups of people, it probably won't matter. I wouldn't want to do pure unlock codes since these might be a temptation too hard to overcome even for honest people. But I'll see what I can do with downloadable versions, or other means of delivery. At present, I'm working pretty hard on finishing development of DARGHUL (last technical and game world related things); but when I've finally done this, I'll deal with this issue.
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thread:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7479
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