Pricing and Service

[unclemike]

Some of this sounds good Uncle Mike (mostly the automated order entry and import/error checking)......but I think the thing that's missing is how much it would cost.

My offer to automate the order entry/validation process was free but Rick decided to go a different route. That's all. The game engine that I developed that would allow Rick's company to create a bunch of new games (with Kingdoms of Arcania being first) had a low price on it but again, the decision was made to go a different route. Which was fine for me because I was taking a significant loss on the offer from a business perspective. I was really only doing it for the joy of the game.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and talk is cheap. Much of the stuff in here is not something most players would want.

That actually made me laugh

[Lord Diamond]

We thought we would have a web based order entry system, and an order checking utility by now, but we don't.

Well, actually, you do have a sample online order validation program that I posted under the Alamaze Rules and Resources section (http://kingdomsofarcania.net/forum/showt...p?tid=8776).

I haven't updated it since my original post and the free server it's on closed my account for inactivity but it still works for the most part. If it were moved to the Alamaze game server, you wouldn't get those annoying pop-up ads.

BTW, why wasn't my post moved to the Important Threads section so that players can access it easier (I get no respect around here ).

Anyway, it didn't take me long to write that code (about two weeks) and I included a document detailing future releases including fully automating the online order submission process so that players wouldn't have to email an excel file anymore. This would also allow players to submit an unlimited number of corrections prior to the turn's deadline as well.

But Rick said not to bother with it because he has a better alternative than what I was proposing so I never finished it. That's too bad because my version would have also prevented any price increases for the game.

I guess I could look into it again since its been about a year and no luck with the alternative but I haven't played this game in over six months and I'm kinda out of it right now.

BTW, prior to all of this, I also proposed to Rick if he was interested in my personal version of Alamaze that I wrote back when the game was no longer available. [I was bored during that time and coded my own version of Alamaze to entertain myself - some of the advantages of being a programmer by trade I guess.]

Took me about 2-3 months to write the code (much less than the 40 months [5 people 8 months] that Fall of Rome required and FoR is a simpler game with fewer concepts - no magic, high council, ...etc.). I hope he didn't pay much for FoR because he got screwed otherwise.

I also added some cool features to my personal version of Alamaze as the following:

(1) Fully customized kingdoms. During game setup, players may choose the number/quality of emissaries, agents, troops, wizards, etc. Players may even create a completely new kingdom like the mighty vulture-like Birdmen if they wanted.

(2) New special brigades types may be created and available for any kingdom. Like the Underworld having a special brigade type called Bandits. During testing, I created a new brigade type called Parrots for the above Birdmen kingdom which were awesome during play.

(3) Customizable seasonal effects. Games may start in any season while specifying which regions feel which effects (summer/winter). Also, may create something like an Ice Age scenario where regions 1-8 are under constant winter while 9,10 under spring - with water areas being frozen allowing troops to cross without ships and other effects like reduced food spoilage and/or 50% movement penalty during the harsh winter.

(4) Unlimited skeletons (not just one major and two minor). May be configured during kingdom setup so a player may choose to have more skeletons in order to spend points in getting an extra wizard or such. Also expanded skeleton types to include catastrophic for more damage and added the chance for a random positive skeleton that has opposite effect (like a successful propaganda or spin on the original skeleton).

(5) Customizable artifacts. This allows ease of adding/removing artifacts for the game as well as allowing players to create their own artifact (either with initial setup points or high level wizard spell with chance of the wizard dying from the effort).

(6) Hex-based mapping. Allows for randomly generated maps of any size/terrain combination.

(7) Enhanced seapower capabilities regarding number of fleets/quality and allowing groups to fight at sea if desired. Also added a new order for a fleet's special abilities: greek fire, ramming head, and cannons for an offensive attack bonus (+10,15,20%) or reinforced hulls and admiral maneuvers (+10,25%) for defense. I added a new column under the seapower section that lists any special enhancements that were purchased for that particular sea. This new feature to the game will really come in handy with hex-based maps that consists nearly entirely of water.

(8) New spells added to make high level wizards more valuable for their expense. Like the 6th level Ice Torrent spell that does 1500 pts of damage/level or my personal favorite Disintegrate (9th level spell that does 3000 pts of damage/level plus 20% morale loss from the demoralizing effect of seeing fellow troops turned into dust). Also added Lich-form which works like Wraith-form but higher level. Added a bunch of other interesting spells like Invisibility for agents, Summon Mummy troops in desert terrains, Control Weather for the region, Summon Demon Noble that acts as a 17th level agent for group leaders/wizs that also poisons the troop's food supplies. Mirror Image is a unique spell that allows the wizard to cast two lower level combat spells during battle (like both tornado and chaos). Or the powerful combat spell called Detonate that unleashes an enormous amount of damage in battle that also permanently kills the wizard (for those truly desperate times).

I've played with some of these enhancements and a few others not mentioned above and they definitely made the game more enjoyable to play!!!

But despite the best sales pitch that I could muster, Rick didn't want to cough up the cash so no deal was made. Too bad because I also tried to design my game engine to be generic enough to be used for other game formats like a new space fleet battle game, World War II scenario, or such which would have expanded the player base among all the games offered by Enlightened Age Entertainment.

I didn't see this! I will be checking it out.

[Lord Diamond]

I offer this for consideration.

As an additional offering, I would like to see a per-game price. This would allow someone to pay a flat fee for one entire game, including setup, without having to change his overall subscription plan. Rick would get his money up front and players would have options. It wouldn't matter to. Rick whether or not a player dropped the game and/or Alamaze and the player wouldn't have any incentive to quit and start a new game when the original game became unwinnable.

It doesn't matter what the price is for the purposes of this discussion. Let's assume it is reasonable and yet still profitable for Rick. He could offer a different price on each type of game. This might even work well as a 'gift' for some. I could see, possibly, buying a game for a friend to get him into the game without having to pay every month.

[Airborne Ranger]

I offer this for consideration.

As an additional offering, I would like to see a per-game price. This would allow someone to pay a flat fee for one entire game, including setup, without having to change his overall subscription plan. Rick would get his money up front and players would have options. It wouldn't matter to. Rick whether or not a player dropped the game and/or Alamaze and the player wouldn't have any incentive to quit and start a new game when the original game became unwinnable.

It doesn't matter what the price is for the purposes of this discussion. Let's assume it is reasonable and yet still profitable for Rick. He could offer a different price on each type of game. This might even work well as a 'gift' for some. I could see, possibly, buying a game for a friend to get him into the game without having to pay every month.

That is a reasonable idea. It would keep players in games until the end most of the time, if they prepaid.

[unclemike]

I offer this for consideration.

As an additional offering, I would like to see a per-game price. This would allow someone to pay a flat fee for one entire game, including setup, without having to change his overall subscription plan. Rick would get his money up front and players would have options. It wouldn't matter to. Rick whether or not a player dropped the game and/or Alamaze and the player wouldn't have any incentive to quit and start a new game when the original game became unwinnable.

It doesn't matter what the price is for the purposes of this discussion. Let's assume it is reasonable and yet still profitable for Rick. He could offer a different price on each type of game. This might even work well as a 'gift' for some. I could see, possibly, buying a game for a friend to get him into the game without having to pay every month.

What is a reasonable one-time price for a game? Games usually last around turn 30 or so and with turns being run 2/week or about 3 months total per game.

We're paying something like the following now:
$12 for new game setup
$19.99 first month
$19.99 second month
$19.99 third month
=====
$71.97 total for 3 months of entertainment

What would you recommend as a one-time price?

[Kellenved]

I offer this for consideration.

As an additional offering, I would like to see a per-game price. This would allow someone to pay a flat fee for one entire game, including setup, without having to change his overall subscription plan. Rick would get his money up front and players would have options. It wouldn't matter to. Rick whether or not a player dropped the game and/or Alamaze and the player wouldn't have any incentive to quit and start a new game when the original game became unwinnable.

It doesn't matter what the price is for the purposes of this discussion. Let's assume it is reasonable and yet still profitable for Rick. He could offer a different price on each type of game. This might even work well as a 'gift' for some. I could see, possibly, buying a game for a friend to get him into the game without having to pay every month.

I like it!

[Lord Diamond]

I offer this for consideration.

As an additional offering, I would like to see a per-game price. This would allow someone to pay a flat fee for one entire game, including setup, without having to change his overall subscription plan. Rick would get his money up front and players would have options. It wouldn't matter to. Rick whether or not a player dropped the game and/or Alamaze and the player wouldn't have any incentive to quit and start a new game when the original game became unwinnable.

It doesn't matter what the price is for the purposes of this discussion. Let's assume it is reasonable and yet still profitable for Rick. He could offer a different price on each type of game. This might even work well as a 'gift' for some. I could see, possibly, buying a game for a friend to get him into the game without having to pay every month.r

What is a reasonable one-time price for a game? Games usually last around turn 30 or so and with turns being run 2/week or about 3 months total per game.

We're paying something like the following now:
$12 for new game setup
$19.99 first month
$19.99 second month
$19.99 third month
=====
$71.97 total for 3 months of entertainment

What would you recommend as a one-time price?

I would leave that to Rick. He and I rarely see eye to eye in this area so I didn't want to throw out a price and have that be the debate. I want to see if the concept has merit first.

[DuPont]

I'm really fine either way, but I suspect a flat fee for a game might cause some problems. What if the game ended quickly for some reason? I could see people fussing about that.

[Jumpingfist]

I like the flexibility but for me one of the things that attracted me back was the monthly fee vs per turn. I always am exceeding the service levels so would not mind seeing some one game cost as well. Tricky though like titan games are basically over after 5 or so turns but if they cost nothing someone could keep playing just to experiment.

[Bash Grimtooth]

I agree that if we paid for our games upfront, there would be fewer people abandoning their games early because they messed up or were bombarded by assailants. However, I don't want to spend $72+ for a game to start. One of the reasons why I like this format is because I don't get sticker shock when I first sign up for a game. By doing it per month as we are doing now, I won't be afraid to sign up for two games, say a regular steel and a warlords, back to back because I don't want to spend over $150+ at once.