Survey: Top Priorities for Ogre VG Improvement

[GranitePenguin]

Originally Posted by Tim Kauffman

We are both disappointed Custom Scenario games cannot be played multiplayer online.

I have to agree with this. The whole point of sharing scenarios is for people to play them. If you can't play them networked, sharing loses its luster.

[Tim Kauffman]

Would having Micro-KICKSTARTERs to fund concise added content be a viable option at some point?

KICKSTARTER 1 - Multiplayer Online Custom Scenarios
We are adding the ability to play multiplayer with your Custom Scenarios!

This concise added content would encourage people to add more content in a major way.
Continuing my comment from earlier, I mentioned and showed my friend the Custom Scenarios and then pointed out the 3 I had made...followed by a regretable...oh, and these can't be played multiplayer, only solo vs AI or yourself...to which we both agreed how much of a disappointment not being able to play Custom Scenarios multiplayer online is.

We could have played those 3 Custom Scenarios, they are fast and furious and are good introductions into the world of OGRE each showcasing certain units and things about the OGREverse and have a throw-down and play a quick game appeal, but that option does not currently exist. So we called our OGRE gaming session at an end. By playing those 3 Scenarios, I could have seen how they actually play against another player, gotten feedback, and so on, and he would have no doubt been inspired to try his hand at making his own to then battle me in them...but again, that option does not currently exist.

It should.

[AurochDigital]

Originally Posted by Tim Kauffman

Would having Micro-KICKSTARTERs to fund concise added content be a viable option at some point?....

It's something we've talked about with SJG. It's possible, yes. I think the issue is that running one itself adds costs. However be interesting to hear what others think?

Note some things are easier to add, others (anything involving multiplayer!) get more complex, but means more funds needs to be raised. Note that Kickstarter is currently much harder for digital than physical games currently, I think it's 1 in 4 make it? Plus they raise less overall. But possible, be interesting to hear other thoughts?

But be interested to hear thoughts? :)

[GranitePenguin]

Originally Posted by AurochDigital

It's something we've talked about with SJG. It's possible, yes. I think the issue is that running one itself adds costs. However be interesting to hear what others think?

Note some things are easier to add, others (anything involving multiplayer!) get more complex, but means more funds needs to be raised. Note that Kickstarter is currently much harder for digital than physical games currently, I think it's 1 in 4 make it? Plus they raise less overall. But possible, be interesting to hear other thoughts?

But be interested to hear thoughts? :)

This seems like a tough road. It assumes a number of things, including "do you already own the game?" It's also inherently more risky, since coding is often a problem of pulling a loose thread that leads to many unforeseen issues. You would have to have a _very_ good idea what the effort is to do a particular thing, which in itself takes time/effort/money to do right.

What about a DLC approach? It's arguable that the "missing units" should be part of the base game, but you could make some strong points for them to simply be DLC. That's potentially "easier" from a management/planning perspective.

I know you guys have done digital KS before, so it's not exactly new territory. What are your thoughts on some of it?

[AurochDigital]

Originally Posted by GranitePenguin

What about a DLC approach? It's arguable that the "missing units" should be part of the base game, but you could make some strong points for them to simply be DLC. That's potentially "easier" from a management/planning perspective.

It is easier to manage from that perspective, however given the average number of existing users to pay for DLC, we'd still need to increase the existing player-base to make that really work.

Originally Posted by GranitePenguin

I know you guys have done digital KS before, so it's not exactly new territory. What are your thoughts on some of it?

I think you're reading is correct that it's a hard sell, as the people most likely to back it, will already have a copy of the game.

For me, we come back to looking for opportunities to increase player base (like the Auroch sale) though promos etc.

[GranitePenguin]

Originally Posted by AurochDigital

It is easier to manage from that perspective, however given the average number of existing users to pay for DLC, we'd still need to increase the existing player-base to make that really work.

That's about what I expected. Even worse, the DLC has to be meaningful enough to justify people buying it. "Getting what should have been in the base game" is rarely something that would go over well. It would have been a lot easier if it had been "just Ogre" first, then have G.E.V. (i.e., advanced rules) as DLC, etc. This isn't a "reskin" situation where we are expanding the available universe, we are still trying to replicate what's in the box.

I think you're reading is correct that it's a hard sell, as the people most likely to back it, will already have a copy of the game.
For me, we come back to looking for opportunities to increase player base (like the Auroch sale) though promos etc.

That's the real question, isn't it? There's only so many reviews, tutorials, etc you can put out to promote awareness. If there was fresh content to promote at the same time... catch 22

[offsides]

Originally Posted by GranitePenguin

That's the real question, isn't it? There's only so many reviews, tutorials, etc you can put out to promote awareness. If there was fresh content to promote at the same time... catch 22

I think the way to make DLC work would be to have a new campaign of some sort. The problem is, I suspect that the scope of it is big enough that it makes it a much bigger deal (and thus bigger sales requirements) than just adding what's missing, which further increases the difficulty of making it happen. I'd pay a reasonable price for the missing units on top of a new 8-10 scenario campaign (or even 8-10 individual detailed scenarios, if they were good enough), but I don't know that there's the critical mass to even get that off the ground...

[Tim Kauffman]

How about a exploratory pre-KICKSTARTER announcement that details specifically what would be made available and at what price-point it would take to get to in order to achieve enough financial support to move it forward and complete with a final price tag as DLC or a new content update depending on what it would be?

Something like this for example:

We want to add Online Multiplayer for Custom Scenarios. To implement this as a fully functional reality we require [insert financial amount needed to be raised here].

Contact those who already own the game with this announcement and ask if they are interested with a simple email. Allow a time table for gathering numbers who are interested or not or unknown (if they do not reply). Make the number count of people public so everyone interested can see in real time how many others are also interested. Then use that as a gauge to see how viable the actual KS may be at the end of the exploratory pre-KS's duration.

I may be grasping at elusive straw here, but I'm just kicking around some ideas.

The ability to play Multiplayer Custom Scenarios is at the core of growing OGRE...analog (Tabletop) or digital. All we need is the digital version to have the same functionality range as the analog one...all we need is to be able to play Online Multiplayer Custom Scenarios. Added new Campaign content can come after as that is single player, while Online Multiplayer Custom Scenarios are single, vs AI and Multiplayer. Once that is in place, OGRE on STEAM will be able to grow and both versions would fully compliment one another.

...and, yes, I sure do also want to see all the units made available at some point.

[AurochDigital]

Originally Posted by Tim Kauffman

How about a exploratory pre-KICKSTARTER announcement that details specifically what would be made available and at what price-point it would take to get to in order to achieve enough financial support to move it forward and complete with a final price tag as DLC or a new content update depending on what it would be?

The exploratory idea is good, that way we can judge the 'temperature' for it. We'd need a way to do that. On an upcoming project we did a questionnaire - that worked well to both getting info and (by number of people who bothered to fill it in) getting a read on the audience....