Talking With Customers (or potential ones)

379 thoughts on Talking With Customers (or potential ones)

1. I like strategy games but from the title it sounds like this is focusing on the battles for the sake of battles, which doesnt interest me, so i havent tried it.
   tbh, from the screenshots this looks like it would be a really great Apple ipod or ipad game. Games on those things are simpler, i can imagine star wars type battles on a ipad would be very cool.

   There used to be a game on the Apple Mac called Escape Velocity. I played it loads, over ten years ago now. There were some great mods for it.
   Your game looks like it could a nice graphical upgrade for a game like that.

   Ambrosia also made a great game called Bubble Trouble, simple but well done.
   I used to play Avernum back when it was called Exile, by Spiderweb Software. Exile 3 was probably one of the best indie RPGs ever, certainly the best ive played. I do support indie peeps. Mac games learnt to rely on indie.

2. Tried the demo, as I had been looking forward to the game, and it didn’t really deliver what I was hoping for. It wasn’t in-depth enough to be an rts, it felt more like pokemon where the guys sort of fight it out with out you.

   Nice idea, but not my thing.

3. Bought original GSB & Tribes bundled based on RPS site coverage, liked it to a point, but it was a fairly quick point. Once I had bought out all upgrades and made a well rounded set of ships, I had the main scenarios licked. However I could never get a solid balance on some of the other races and got tired of trying to sort out the gimmick in each scenario.

   Never did get around to installing Tribes and haven’t looked over the other DLC since.

   None the less, I didn’t mind the money spent but ultimately it didn’t push enough buttons to stick with it beyond 4-5 days.

   I remember Democracy looking interesting but didn’t buy it when I saw it and haven’t went back since.

   Anyway, you’re making games that are close to my core interest just not always dead on. You do have the indie good will & trusting to go it without DRM things going for you so future efforts will get solid consideration and at a cheap enough price point I’d buy any of your titles just to try them.

4. Read “Ender’s Game”. The space battles in your game should be like their training excercises.

5. Waiting for the Mac version. This is totally my kind of game and I’ve been following it for what seems like ages. But for the type of game it is I want to be in my primary OS. As soon as a Mac versions comes out I’ll buy it.

6. I just didn’t give the game a chance. I downloaded the demo from Steam but haven’t played it. Perhaps I will tonight.

   Have fun!

7. I have a sense for what I’m willing to pay for that kind of game; sadly, it is less than what the asking price is, and (I’m guessing) less than what would make the game profitable. Probably what it means is that I’m just not the right audience for the game, which is fine.

8. Simply put, because I’ve never heard of it. I’ll try the demo, though, the screenies look nice.

   PS, I heard about this through Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

9. I really did like the concept, but when I played the demo I didn’t enjoy it so much. I think it was partly the whole “sit back and watch” thing which got a little boring, but also it didn’t seem like there were many interesting strategy mechanics. Maybe that’s just the demo?

10. Tried the demo on steam, i didnt like having no real time control over the ships and didnt have the effort required to preset their stratergies…

    shame really, almost got me.

11. Because I hate to scroll all the way down to comment. Just kidding. I didn’t buy GSB mostly because it didn’t have as much as an addictive quality I would want in a game like this. By that I mean more RPG elements to it, at least from what I saw in the demo you had some, but not enough for my tastes.

12. Simply, I don’t have a lot of spare time as I started a business this year. That’s caused all my gaming to suffer. Still I’ve been sorely tempted to give GSB a whirl since it looks like a real hoot.

    I did however, recommend it to a friend who was looking for something just like GSB. Not sure if he took up the recommendation though.

13. I didn’t buy it or even play the demo because feels like a gimmick. A good gimmick perhaps but there’s only so much you can possibly do with it. I generally only play games with good campaigns but I don’t think that’s possible here any more than it is with tetris.
    If it were me I’d integrate a simpler version of this as the combat in a Total War style game (King Arthur!). That’s one example.. X-Com is another. or even Flotilla!

14. I was really interested when I saw the name and screenshots, but just watching the battle play out is not my thing. I love turn based gameplay, but this seems a bit over the top.
    In saying that, I still have yet to play the demo, but I have shows that entertain me if I just want to watch something, and games that entertain me when I want to interact.

15. It didn’t seem like the type of game that I’d enjoy. I followed the comments on the RPS website and the general negative feedback put me off.

    I’ve still got too many AAA titles I need to play so didn’t even bother with the demo…

16. Well, I did buy and I did buy one of the racepacks, but I didn’t buy anything else basically it ended up being window dressing for the game. I was hoping for some greater game mechanics (campaign, hero pilots, a level of scripting for ships like go here then etc). I paid however much it was when the beta first came out, and I bought the Tribe and I think I got my money’s worth, but anything else is going to need a fair bit more new content

17. I didn’t hear a thing about it, or if I did, the title didn’t grab me. I guess I’m not one for gratuitous battles, especially those taking place in space. I’m here from a RPS link. I suppose it would help you to have more broad internet coverage. Maybe you had that, and I missed it.

    So, I guess the answer is, make an embarrassing viral video. Thank you, good night.

18. I buy GSB, but I have not yet purchased any expansions. I just want you to know that this is only because I have not yet had the time to play to the point where expansions are needed! I am glad that they will be there, waiting for me, when that time comes.

19. That was supposed to be “I did buy” with an emphasis on the “did,” but instead the “did” didn’t.

20. I didn’t buy it because I’ve never heard of you, never heard of the game, and have no idea what its about.

    I just hunted around this page for 20 seconds until I found a link to your GSB website. apparently its some kind of spaceship strategy game ?

    there’s a chance that a lot of people didn’t buy gratuitous space battles because they don’t like… battles that happen gratuitously, in space. I’m not trying to make a joke. I dont like shmups, and I don’t particularly enjoy clicking on space ships, etc. Flotilla or starcraft is about as close as I’ll ever get to GSB.

21. There are a few things swirling around that combine to make me a customer who is probably not worth your while:

    1) I’ve been spoiled by Nine Inch Nails. I now expect to download something I’m interested in for free, and then if it turns out to be awesome, I’ll return and send some money to the creator. Being able to opt-in to several levels of creative, exclusive content is an excellent “soft sell” – I feel like it’s my choice to shell out the extra money, and there’s absolutely no obligation to actually do so. In fact NiN encourages you to distribute their product as much as you can (in the hopes that it creates a few hardcore fans who will pay for premium content.)

    2) I’ve been assimilated by Steam…I know GSB is there, but it hasn’t appeared in a ludicrous sale yet…My price point for most games these days is $5, and for industry-leading games I’ll spend $10. For example, I just picked up the Civ 4 Complete pack on Steam for $10. Ten dollars for a base game with a Metacritic of 94%, PLUS 3 expansions is a fantastic value…At this point, I don’t believe that Cliffy’s GSB is in the same category as Sid Meier’s Civ4.

    3) On the (admittedly small) plus side, if I enjoyed the core game for $5, then I will probably shell out $2 for DLC as often as you can produce it.

    If it’s any consolation, I haven’t bought Borderlands yet for all the same reasons. Also, I don’t understand all the negative comments on the graphics/artwork in GSB – I think it looks great.

22. The problem I had with GSB is that it had no soul. It was all pretty graphics and ships slinging stuff at each other. Every battle feels like the same thing with slightly different ‘mutators’ (no fighters this battle, half shields that battle) but its always just line up your ships and have at it.

    If this entire game had been the combat resolution engine of an actual strategy game, that would have been nice. As it is, this isn’t a strategy game at all. It is a RTT (Real Time Tactical) game. There are no strategic-level decisions to make, just whether to add on another heavy plasma or some more lasers.

23. The game looks good, but it’s a bit expensive for my taste. Can get stuff like plants vs zombies for (new zealand) $25 in a store, on a disc. Wheras your game is around the (new zealand) $40 and is download only. Not to mention I purchase a lot of games off Xbox live arcade, and they are about (new zealand) $15 each. So you are competing with a lot of other small/indie games.

    Actually, your games would probably work quite well on xbox live arcade, maybe you should try sell them there?

24. Apparently you expected it, you gave you answer yourself:
    “I wanted a campaign wrapped around the battles. It was too sandboxy”

    I thought the battles were great, now it just needed a game wrapped around it.

25. Also: i despise the practise of DLCs. It always feels like a ripoff, so to buy a game where two factions are planned into it but not delivered with, it wouls have to be on a heavy discount, even as an indy title. (And btw. i spend almost all my gaming money exclusively on indy titles)

26. I pre-ordered the game, downloaded and played the beta briefly but decided that it needed more thought and time that I had to give it. Once the final version was released, I updated my copy but the installation failed for some reason and I kept getting the same error message on startup (Error 36… \src\winmain.cpp 45). I didn’t have time to try and fix it, and it’s sat on my desktop unplayed for several months. Only seeing this post reminded me about it, but I still can’t get it working. One day I’ll try and chase it up.

27. I just didn’t like the game. I felt it really lacked in strategy/tactics and all that. The complexity of the game is really something I’d expect from a free flash game and it just didn’t feel very fun or involving.

    The best way I can describe the combat is a clusterfuck.
    There’s just so many ships in the battle that it really dilutes any decisions you make about fleet composition and the like.

    The absence of any direct control takes away any involvement/immersion you might feel. None of my ships really felt unique, and even if they were I couldn’t play favorites with them if I wanted to.

    The best arcade style games like GSB really work in more of a puzzle solving style. But as with many other games that have tried it, GSB has just too many solutions to each battle (many of which seemed to be spamming a single ship) for there to be any sense of solving anything. Think crayon physics, scribblenauts etc. the novelty just wears off and you end up just exploiting a mechanic or making catapaults to solve everything.

    I also felt it could have really benefited from RPG like mechanics, a tech tree, ships levelling up and carrying on between battles etc. I’m not one of those people who likes RPG and achievements in everything either. I think in this case it really could have involved the player more and let them develop a style.

    Your game is essentially the combat in GCII or SOASE without any of the complex game leading up to it. Not really a game on it’s own. Which comes down to an another reason I didn’t buy it, other products have already done the same thing but better and with more stuff.

    Sorry if I was a bit hard on ya there but it really does seem like you haven’t looked at what makes other games good before making your own.

28. Hey mate, I like that you are trying to actively involve your audience, And I hope you get rewards that you deserve.
    As to why I didn’t buy it, (and I did see the Article on RockPaperShotgun), Space warfare, and lasers and all that, doesn’t do it for me one bit, If it was a bit more relevant to real life I would probably get behind it.

    ie; If it had weapons, and combat vehicles I recognize (even If only in shape) I would be more inclined to pay & play, or If it was something way way out there, in your face sorta stuff I’d probably take a look-at least.

    As it stands now, It’s in the ‘meh’ pile, with Far Cry 2 and a depressingly large amount of other games too. – I’m sorry that was hard to write, maybe not as bad as Far Cry 2 but you know ‘meh’ = Not pirating it, not buying it – not playing.

    In case it gives you a little bit of insight, Games I am playing atm include; Command & Conquer:Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, ArmA2, Swat4, Left4Dead, Company Of Heroes, Warcraft 3.

    Good Luck!

29. The only reason I haven’t purchased it yet is because I’m currently unemployed, and have been for some time. When I get a job again and can get ahead of my real-life bills I fully intend to get it :)

30. I downloaded the GSB demo from Steam and quite enjoyed it. However, when I tried to exit the demo it froze my computer forcing a reboot. That’s partly why I didn’t buy it. GSB is also expensive compared to games like Plants vs Zombies, Defense Grid and the like. I’ll probably buy it if it shows up in a weekend deal.

31. I bought GSB, but I’m staying away from the DLCs. The price feels quite steep when one can get complete games for the same price. A few new ships and modules does not a proper DLC make, not even with AAA games. It reminds me of tabletop wargame or trading card game pricing, where you get nickle-and-dimed to oblivion every time you slightly tweak your setup.

32. I wanted this game but not enough to pay £17.99 (steam) for it. At about half that, I would almost certainly have picked it up on release. Not that all the DLC is available, the full price is close to £30. This game simply doesn’t look good enough (not just graphically) for that kind of money. That’s the price of any new title so why should I choose this one?

    If the entire product including the DLC was £10/£13 I’d buy it because it looks fun. As far as I can tell, it’s not worth more than that by any stretch of the imagination. It could just be psychological because it’s an indie title priced like a AAA game but I really can’t justify £30 on this game when I haven’t bought Red Dead Redemption for my PS3 or Mass Effect 2 for my PC yet.

33. Very simple reason:

    Yes, i’d like to buy it. But sadly, there’s no Mac version. Yes, i’d use Steam to buy it. And yes, i can wait until the mac version is released.

34. I read that it didn’t have multiplayer, which is the only reason I play strategy games.

35. My purchases are based on steam achievements

36. Hi!

    I don’t have an exact reason, as much as I like space games, GSB didn’t really appeal to me. I’m guessing I could kinda fin in these two cathegories:

    # “I wanted direct control of the ships, and that was frustrating”
    # “I wanted a campaign wrapped around the battles. It was too sandboxy”

    Anyway, I think it’s great you talk with such honesty to your public, and I’ll be following your products more closely!

    Cheers!

37. I actually bought the game, but didn’t enjoy it much.

38. I thought it was too expensive upon release, and wasn’t THRILLED about the concept and so wasn’t paying attention to sales and promotions, etc. if it got cheaper.

    The solution would be to make something I’m more thrilled about (most difficult), make it cheaper on release (moderately difficult), or advertise more vigorously (maybe least difficult?). Your business model will really dictate what you want to do though, and that’s for you to decide.

39. I dunno the demo didn’t really wow me. I barely got a taste of it, and what I tasted was mostly trial and error and error and error and error and error and error.

40. I’m not into strategy games (and I didn’t know it existed until 2 minutes ago)

41. I actually did buy it, and I’ve bought some other games as well.

    I haven’t bought any of the ‘expansions’ though, and I can’t really see myself doing it. It just doesn’t seem to really add anything to the game. Now, while I did buy the game, and did enjoy it, this last example you made sort of fits my view:

    “I wanted a campaign wrapped around the battles. It was too sandboxy”

    It just didn’t really seem like a full game. Then again, I did buy it, and spend some time on it at first, so this comment might be pointless.

42. Well, RPS brought me here and since it’s an honest question there’s nothing wrong with answering.

    I didn’t buy your game cause I didn’t know it existed until literally like 1 minute ago. I probably will download the demo now, however for me to buy any game these days it needs to be very very good, not because i pirate them (as a developer myself i can’t support that practice) but because i already have a huge backlog of games waiting for my attention, and that’s just for the ones that came out this year, so I’m somewhat lacking in time and money.

    I’m always looking for new strategy games i can play with my pals, though, so if it’s good enough i might buy more than one copy.

43. Follow-up comment: It’s been a while since I played it, so I forgot one thing. It was the fact that it was impossible to change anything on the fly, during battles. Someone on RPS likened it to Football Manager, but at least in that you can change things while it’s going on, for better or for worse.

    The player role just seemed too static to me to have any lasting appeal.

44. I didn’t buy GSB because I don’t have a credit card. (something that probably has done wonders for my economy. Else I would be buying stuff all the time. It’s good to have that slight hindrance in the instant gratification department)

    I bought Kudos 2 though through another person. And GSB is interesting enough that I’d buy it but I also know I have a huge backlog of games that I should get through rather than buy new games.

45. I’d like fully customizeable ships, being able to build piece by piece like a lego-set, and THEN throw them against eachother.

    So simply put, your game just isn’t quite customizable enough for me. I’m the kind of nut that spends hours playing Garrysmod.

46. Sadly I’ve had to pass up GSB because I’ve not got the time to invest in a fun little number (which I am pretty sure GSB is) while investing quite as much as you’re asking.

    Other things have taken precedence and paying £15 just fell too much, especially when the £4 DLC came out…

    Sorry! (I may get round to getting it some time)

47. The very simple reason for my not purchasing GSB is simply – I didn’t get around to it. It’s on my list, along with Frozen Synapse. But I still didn’t manage to even so much as install two out of five games from the Humble Indie Bundle. I imagine I’ll get to it during the Summer, or some such.

    I haven’t played the demo yet, so I don’t actually know firsthand how the gameplay feel. But from what I do know, I think i would’ve felt a more pressing need to get to the game more quickly if it had some sort of storyline. Now, I really want to be as clear as I can on this – I absolutely am not saying that a storyline makes or breaks my purchase of this game, or even that I’m advising a story mode. In fact, I am consciously aware of the fact that games like this are played in single scenario mode most of the time even when there is a campaign mode of some sort (which people play through exactly once and that’s it). This is just me trying to pull some pop psychology on myself.

48. Many reasons, too many games to play actually, not interrested in this game particularly.

    It’s not that I don’t like this kind of game, it don’t appeal to me.

49. Why I didn’t buy GSB

    That’s simple. Because I never heard of it until today (on Rock, Paper, Shotgun).

50. I am afraid I didn’t buy your game (though I was initially interested in it, and the reviews were good), because it came to the light at the same time as a couple of other games I had been following: AI and Distant Worlds. I guess it is a matter of bad luck…

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