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[Hideous]

I was never expecting anything this awesome to be free.

[marshmonkey]

Starting today, Zero Gear is available for pre-order! Players who pre-order will get 25% off the price of the game, as well as immediate access to the beta version! Visit the Zero Gear product page for pricing information. Zero Gear is slated for release on January 12th, 2010. Stay tuned for more release information in the weeks ahead, including a 4 package deal!



Also included in the latest beta update (which you can access by pre-order), is a new goal mode map, Hoops.



A special thanks goes out from us here at NimbleBit to everyone who has helped us beta testing the game. We hope you will pre-order and continue to be the foundation of the Zero Gear player community!

Core, we were planning on have a free version that limited some of the things in the game and still allowed you to play online, however we weren't able to try that out because of some technical limitations of Steam. It is something we still hope to experiment with once that limitation is removed.

[hyperduck]

I thought it was going to be free?

Oh well. It was too good to be true.

I think they deserve some type of financial benefit, since it is their main job.

[marshmonkey]

Not according to my girlfriend, she says I just play games all day 

[hyperduck]

Why would you share our private lives with the fans?!

[Core Xii]

I think they deserve some type of financial benefit, since it is their main job.

I completely agree. Unfortunately I don't have any financial benefit to give. Should that mean I can't play, despite no sales being lost? Apparently so. That makes you from a developer doing it for the love, to a developer doing it for the profit. Makes me sad.

[Eclipse]

I think they deserve some type of financial benefit, since it is their main job.

I completely agree. Unfortunately I don't have any financial benefit to give. Should that mean I can't play, despite no sales being lost? Apparently so. That makes you from a developer doing it for the love, to a developer doing it for the profit. Makes me sad.

 

no really man, stop this bullshit already, you're looking stupid

[hyperduck]

You know the free demo is still playable, you can still play Zero Gear. Even when the release comes out. So the whole freemium premium thing that they talked about is still going to be evident after they release the game.

[Hempuli‽]

I think they deserve some type of financial benefit, since it is their main job.

I completely agree. Unfortunately I don't have any financial benefit to give. Should that mean I can't play, despite no sales being lost? Apparently so. That makes you from a developer doing it for the love, to a developer doing it for the profit. Makes me sad.

 


no really man, stop this bullshit already, you're looking stupid

Let me bring my lot:


I hope you're joking, what's with that attitude.

[Eclipse]

Dunno you but I'd be VERY pissed off is someone tells me that the game I developed full-time for a year or more is just made for profit, it's just childish and plain stupid.

Sorry Core Xii if I was too arsh, you're a great dude but that thing hitted a weak spot on me  

Is a bit like saying to Alec and Derek that was lame that they didn't released Aquaria for free after two years of work

[gimymblert]

Love need to pay the bills too

[Core Xii]

Of course I'm exaggerating, you're a long way from the likes of EA, I'm just saying I'd like to see alternative financial plans that don't involve me not being able to play games I can't afford, even though nothing of value would be lost.

I didn't actually look into what the demo contains, just voicing my opinion.

[FranticPandaKev]

I think they just need to make some of the money they've spent back over the last two years + of putting this game into action. No harm in that. Games worth the price they're charging though.

[Snakey]

I suppose if we were all communists then everything would be free.

[marshmonkey]

I think it is a fair ( or at least interesting ) debate to have. We had always planned on having a stripped down multiplayer demo/free version, unfortunately we have found out that is technically impossible through steam right now (2 different game builds can't network with each other). We hope to be able to do it down the road when it is supported, but right now there seems to be no way to have a fee version that can also play with people who have bought the game.

We do need to make money off the game somehow, otherwise we will have to go back to work at some faceless corporate game studio.

[Eclipse]

I suppose if we were all communists then everything would be free.

well I am communist, but as the State is not going to pay you, you need to ask your players for the right amount of $$$ you need to cover your life costs during development and possibly the next game ones.

Of course I'm exaggerating, you're a long way from the likes of EA, I'm just saying I'd like to see alternative financial plans that don't involve me not being able to play games I can't afford, even though nothing of value would be lost.

I didn't actually look into what the demo contains, just voicing my opinion.

I'm sure you spend a lot more every month eating stuff your body doesn't really need or wearing stuff you don't really need.
Unless you're truly inside the band of poverty in your nation population or you're like 10, I bet you can afford an indie game.

Also which one is the price you'd feel right for a game?

[Core Xii]

I'm sure you spend a lot more every month eating stuff your body doesn't really need or wearing stuff you don't really need.
Unless you're truly inside the band of poverty in your nation population or you're like 10, I bet you can afford an indie game.

We eat very healthy but unfortunately organic food also costs the most. Compromising health for games is unacceptable. I almost never, ever buy clothes; I'm wearing my mom's, decades old shirts. We're trying to get a family business of sorts profiting, but we've had to move several times in the last couple of years because every god damn apartment had humidity damage. I'm living on government support. No, I really can't afford a game, indie or otherwise, as it stands.

Whatever I can spare on occasion goes into games that I can't pirate and have reasonable prices: Valve games. Right now I have a 50 sitting on my desk saved up for the new Mario & Luigi game. DS games are friggin' expensive, but DS emulation hasn't matured yet.
edit: Looks like that 50 goes for food. Again. I'll get it eventually!

Games should cost whatever you find them worth after playing, IMO.

I'm a bit of a communist myself.

[Hempuli‽]

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it doesn't ultimately work except in some specific cases. Attempts at communism (and the World of Goo giveaway) have shown us that we people just are so dang greedy and not willing to do anything for other people.

So your opinion is good in a way.

[Eclipse]

Games should cost whatever you find them worth after playing, IMO.

I'm a bit of a communist myself.

even after completing them? I use to pirate some games myself because they lack a proper demo, but I always got the game if I liked it at the point I wanted to play it more than few minutes. Sadly even if in the past PC gamers used to have demos for every game out there now console gaming almost killed this way of doing, and when there's a demo sometimes you even get the demo only after a preorder!

I'm not condemning you about piracy but it's not nice to say "your game should be free, you're not doing it for love" to a developer that spent all his work time and prolly most of his free time too on a game for a year or more.
Also as you can afford valve and $50 DS games you could affort $10 for Zero Gear, those aren't only money "for games", are money for people you should admire as they're trying to follow their passion even if they're forced to sell their games to live.

I had to quit my job too to try this way, luckily I've always worked in the industry but a lot of people did shitty jobs just to pay the rent dreaming about a day when they could afford doing games full-time instead of delivering pizzas or cleaning floors.
Now marshmonkey and his team are just trying that so the last thing you should say to them is that they're being greedy asking for some bucks

I'd love to set the game I'm working on for free without the need to use money to live, but it's not going to happen to anyone unless their parents\wife\whatever are so rich and so dumb letting them doing games at their expenses


@Hempuli: World of Goo giveaway was an HUGE success, but it was a sale, after months and months the game was already out both for wii and pc. I'm sure Zero Gear will be on sale too at some time or will have a price drop after about a year or so

[Hempuli‽]

Yeah, but there were lots of people who only gave that 1 cent or something.

I guess you nailed the whole thing very well, Eclipse.