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March 28, 2024, 07:43:40 AM

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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperBusinessCreating a pricing strategy
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moi
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« Reply #40 on: March 12, 2010, 05:09:55 PM »

I would feel bad pricing a shitty game at $290 and thinking that most of the purchase were either people not paying attention or stolen credit cards
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« Reply #41 on: March 12, 2010, 07:04:03 PM »

There are some very very rich people with iphones. An it girl will buy a $300 game simply because it is $300 just cause she's curious as to what it is and $300 means absolutely nothing to her.

Whereas a normal person would go WTF? and look it up on the internet.
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« Reply #42 on: March 12, 2010, 08:02:59 PM »

People rich enough to spend 300$ out of curiosity in a single game (even with a description and screenshots screaming "this game sucks") aren't exactly common these days. It's 14 sales in a very short time, that's just impossible.
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Christian Knudsen
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« Reply #43 on: March 13, 2010, 02:35:40 AM »

If your point of view is that Tommy Refenes and Adam Saltsman are outright lying, then there's not really much to discuss. Shrug
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Chromanoid
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« Reply #44 on: March 13, 2010, 02:40:55 AM »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich ...similar story...

btw: product differentiation by price is a very common strategy. just by setting a higher price you give your product a "premium identity". combined with marketing efforts this strategy can be very efficient (for example following product categories show that: fashion, tobacco, food...). i think product differentiation by price combined with strong marketing works good for games only if you sell your game on a place where your game would normally become a kind of homogenous good (when you sell your game on apple app store, xblig, steam (?) etc.).
« Last Edit: March 13, 2010, 03:05:51 AM by Chromanoid » Logged
JackieJay
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« Reply #45 on: March 13, 2010, 05:15:42 AM »

Outright lying, perhaps not, greatly exaggerating, more likely.  Tongue

Chromanoid's link made me rethink my point though. They actually managed to sell 8 apps priced 999$ in a single day, that's quite impressive in the bad sense of the word.
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moi
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« Reply #46 on: March 13, 2010, 06:47:37 AM »

Even if rich people were purposedly buying that I would feel it's wrong.
It's a lot of money wasted, most of it going to Apple or Paypal or whatever.
They might as well give this money for Haiti or sthg.
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Chromanoid
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« Reply #47 on: March 13, 2010, 08:17:06 AM »

Even if rich people were purposedly buying that I would feel it's wrong.
It's a lot of money wasted, most of it going to Apple or Paypal or whatever.
They might as well give this money for Haiti or sthg.
mmh what is about buying branded stuff like clothing, electronics (i.e. iphone, macbook) or even in some cases art? especially if the brand represents lifestyle and not quality.
a big part of what you buy is the brand and not the physical product. you pay for something that is there only because ads/people say it is there. you pay for a virtual value. in my opinion buying the "i am rich app" is the extreme version of buying a polo shirt by lacoste.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2010, 08:22:15 AM by Chromanoid » Logged
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« Reply #48 on: March 13, 2010, 10:34:59 AM »

JackieJay: Consider the source. If this was some random blogger I'd agree with your skepticism, since bloggers often do that type of shit to generate ad revenue; but this is from a fairly well-known indie game developer asked to speak at the GDC who has nothing to gain from lying to everyone.
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JackieJay
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« Reply #49 on: March 13, 2010, 11:45:10 AM »

Well until I meet them personally it's hard to trust them. Langdell teaches in a university and was part of the directors board of the IGDA and yet he's a pathological liar. Tongue

But like I said, if someone is able to put a useless app that costs 999$ in the appstore and sell 8 units in a single day, then nothing suprises me anymore.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2010, 03:21:42 PM by JackieJay » Logged

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« Reply #50 on: March 18, 2010, 04:44:57 AM »

Dominions 3 is another good example of going for a high price point ($54) because your game is niche & fairly unique. I believe they are doing fairly well.
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ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)
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« Reply #51 on: March 18, 2010, 05:17:32 AM »

whether it's true or false isn't relevant to the discussion, anyway. the discussion is about how you should price games and how you would price the OP's game in particular, not what's the highest price possible that crazy people will still by a few copies of. you can buy shoes for $5000 too. and thousands of people buy designer shoes at that price. so there are very rich people out there. but that's not a good way to price regular games.

anyway. i agree with the earlier post on color balance. i think color balance is probably the biggest problem the visuals of that game have besides the tiny sprites. i think at least half of the effect graphics have on someone is how the colors work as a whole.
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« Reply #52 on: March 18, 2010, 09:08:36 AM »

@pricing strategy: maybe you could use the hedonic pricing method to find a good starting  price...
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« Reply #53 on: March 19, 2010, 05:47:54 AM »

The last 2 games I've sold I've charged $5 for. It's relatively cheap and I wouldn't go any higher than that for something that's not 1) very polished or 2) very huge. Also make sure to cut a decent demo that people can try out for free of course.
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« Reply #54 on: March 19, 2010, 04:34:14 PM »

I've played the demo, almost finished the first level.

I think it's a good game, the learning curve is good and it was fun. Reminded me Diablo2(but simpler), Nox and other little games we were making with a friend when I was at school (that were gauntlet-like too).

As other people that first reacted I think a bit of work on graphics and audio can make it good to sell. Really I think you have something interesting here so keep it up, you're on the good way.

Now about princing, I just wanted to react on the multi-pricing strategy. Is it just me or those who succeeded with this strategy (I only know 2DBoy so far) had already made anough buzz and mouth-to-ear (it's how they say?) about the game to make it easy to be bought?
I mean, it's really easier to ask people to pay how they want when they already know or heard that what you sell is good.
If you're comming from nowhere, then I doubt this strategy can work.

But I find it interesting so I'll keep the idea for my own projects anyway, to see what can be done :D
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« Reply #55 on: March 22, 2010, 11:39:25 AM »

It kind of boggles my mind that everyone assumes that the people who bought Zits 'n Giggles for $300 and didn't return it did so because they're crazy. Isn't it a much simpler explanation that these people didn't check the price, and didn't check their credit card statement?

I'll grant you that it's stupid to not check these things, but a) this is a very common kind of stupidity, and b) it is a different kind of stupidity than the kind where you knowingly buy a casual game for $300.

Tommy's entire point seems to depend on the idea that people bought the game at the higher price because they're willing to pay any amount for a casual game. But the simplest explanation is that he tricked some vulnerable (read: stupid or naïve) people into paying way too much for his game.

The worst of it is that, at least according to the Gamasutra article about the rant:

Quote
Its official description still claims it costs "a FRIGGIN DOLLAR."

This issue is not going to properly hit the fan until 90 days have passed, and the customers can't return the app anymore.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2010, 11:46:03 AM by Bennett » Logged
weasello
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« Reply #56 on: March 22, 2010, 03:06:53 PM »

It kind of boggles my mind that everyone assumes that the people who bought Zits 'n Giggles for $300 and didn't return it did so because they're crazy. Isn't it a much simpler explanation that these people didn't check the price, and didn't check their credit card statement?

I think even the dumbest people still look at pricetags when browsing. Smiley

Some counter-points: some of the best 3Rings customers (puzzlepirates, etc.) spend thousands per month on their games. Bored rich people at home looking to have a good time. They DO exist. And when we're dealing with a high end, kitschy-market like the iPhone... You're bound to have at least a few hundred of them kicking around.

Another counter-point: I want to support independent development, and I personally often buy very overpriced things like this. When games are offered at a "Set your own price" level I usually go into the hundreds if I really like the title. I've sent more money to kickstarter than I've spent on a car, and received NOTHING in return.

Some people like to support. Some people have money to burn. Some people are stupid.

But I didn't think it was a scam, and if Tommy got in trouble for the money I gave him: I apologize sincerely.

Instead of looking at this issue as "how would I react?", try to put yourself in the realm of "where would this work?"
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IndieElite4Eva
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« Reply #57 on: March 28, 2010, 10:26:33 PM »

I support the notion that some people are just rich fucks who'll buy anything. Notice that two sizes of this are sold out.
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« Reply #58 on: March 28, 2010, 11:09:33 PM »

It kind of boggles my mind that everyone assumes that the people who bought Zits 'n Giggles for $300 and didn't return it did so because they're crazy. Isn't it a much simpler explanation that these people didn't check the price, and didn't check their credit card statement?

I think even the dumbest people still look at pricetags when browsing. Smiley

Some counter-points: some of the best 3Rings customers (puzzlepirates, etc.) spend thousands per month on their games. Bored rich people at home looking to have a good time. They DO exist. And when we're dealing with a high end, kitschy-market like the iPhone... You're bound to have at least a few hundred of them kicking around.

Another counter-point: I want to support independent development, and I personally often buy very overpriced things like this. When games are offered at a "Set your own price" level I usually go into the hundreds if I really like the title. I've sent more money to kickstarter than I've spent on a car, and received NOTHING in return.

Some people like to support. Some people have money to burn. Some people are stupid.

But I didn't think it was a scam, and if Tommy got in trouble for the money I gave him: I apologize sincerely.

Instead of looking at this issue as "how would I react?", try to put yourself in the realm of "where would this work?"
I'm struggling to separate the sarcasm from the facts here.
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jotapeh
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« Reply #59 on: April 10, 2010, 06:05:03 PM »

Quote
Its official description still claims it costs "a FRIGGIN DOLLAR."

This issue is not going to properly hit the fan until 90 days have passed, and the customers can't return the app anymore.

Yeah. This is false advertising and is in fact criminal to some extent. Not cool.
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