Dominions 3, Playing Abysia

A small or medium sized Abysian army is sent against a broken, fled army. There have been battles with over twenty times this amount of units (~5,000) units, playing Ermor.

Note that the soldiers in flames are independent elf archers and water shamblers - drafted from conquered provinces - which succumbed to the biological effects of Abysians (smoke).

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Dominions 3
• Dominions
• Abysia
• Magic Strategy
• Fantasy Strategy
• 4x
• Civilization II
• Civilizations
• Civ
• ilWinter
• Moloch

[mikepalomino]

I hate to sound like a wet blanket, because I earnestly want to help independent game developers, but - despite the fact that this game looks relatively cool (considering the somewhat crude, non-animated units) - the developers and/or Shrapnel Games is out of their EVERLOVING gourds if the think they can sell this for $50+ dollars. That is sheer insanity if not outright hubris.

They'd sell twice as many (maybe even three times) if they'd bring it down to $19.99.

[paldepind]

You are so right! Shrapnel games is selling cool games but they are way too overpriced.

[oldrocker99]

After hemming and hawing for over a year, I finally bought it. It. Is. Worth. Every. Penny. The manual is incredible (and this incredible game NEEDS an incredible manual), and the frequent patches have added a slew of additional content, while fixing the (few) original bugs and imbalances. You can expect to have your head handed to you your first few games, but you'll learn more and more about how to play by just playing. It is chess, while HOMM3 is checkers.

[mikepalomino]

@earwicker7 I was just made aware that others had posted comments. I understand - like another commenter said - that this is a "niche" product, perhaps aimed at aged grognards who like their table-top gaming and have expendable income. I am sure the product is excellent, no doubt better than a lot of junk out there. I don't wish to sound petulant, I'm just a frugal gamer that likes to pick an choose how to spend my money. I hate to plunk down the money only to not appreciate it the way you do.

[mikepalomino]

@IggyTheReaper I hear ya. To be honest, I have a backlog of games that I'll likely never finish, so it's not like I'm dying to get this game. Still it looks promising. I really wish these developers would buy into the longtail theory of economics, whatever profit they lose by selling up from at a higher price they make up for in the long run. Other indie developers have learned that 9.99 and 19.99 are sweet spot prices that bring in just as much money (or more) as games selling for twice as much

[IggyTheReaper]

@mikepalomino that's why torrent sites exist.

awesome game btw.

[earwicker7]

To those who are complaining about the price... it's worth much, much more than what is being charged. Dominions is almost a lifestyle... multiplayer games sometimes last years. Yes, that's right... not months, years. It's amazing that companies can put out "Shovelware Part 9" and charge $55, and nobody complains about the one month development phase because it has fancy graphics, but a game like this, religiously developed in everything other than sound and graphics, should be $9.99.

[Kharesh]

If they sold it cheaper, they'd be gambling on selling more copies. This is a niche product that's so niche that 4x harcores go "whoah, not for me", so that's not really going to fly. Also, they're not picked up or distributed in retail outlets, which also minimizes purchases and keeps sales low. Given those things, 55 dollars is reasonable. You as a consumer get added patch content periodically, the developer gets to stay afloat and it's still cheaper than many ps3 titles which see less play.

[Ne0mega]

Wow, this looks like a lost game by a lost developement company.... $55? The website gives me no confidence I would get a professional game. but Im still intrigued.

[HeLL12aiseR]

yeah, Shrapnel are definitely overpricing their products. the thing is that their products are mostly considered as "niche" instead of mainstream, so I think they're counting on their loyal fan base to keep purchasing their products, and slowly expanding it towards newer players.

I definitely agree with you guys that this isn't the wisest decision but at least it's different from all these mainstream industrious companies that don't give a damn about quality games any more...

[mikepalomino]

Someone should tell them about the longtail economic theory. Looks like they're trying to recoup all their costs up front instead of over time, which just doesn't work for independent developers.

It's a shame. Kinda wish I could grab whoever's in charge by the shoulders and shake some sense into them.

Oh well. = /