Advice to eSimGames: Start selling ASAP!

[Newbie-Olle]

Buying of SB Pro PE is announced to include free upgrades and updates until the release of SB2, so nobody (should) expect it to have all features, bells and whistles up and running at the day of release.

Given this, the only reasons not to sell it in it's current state are a) lack of a sales organisation, and b) the software have severe bugs in the included features.
Once the major bugs are gone, the game should be considered "ready" for release, IMO, even if only as little as 10% of the promised (http://www.esimgames.com/steel_beasts_pro_improvementshdr.htm) features are included. (The rest of the features will be added in later versions of the software.)

Why not take a peek at how they sell the new versions of Ports of Call (http://www.portsofcall.de)?
Those games (XXL and 3D) have been for sale in beta status for a couple of years now, with thousands of paying customers!
Just as with SB Pro PE the only way to buy is on the net, and free upgrades of the game up to "gold" standard are guaranteed. (And then the typical updates with any additional bug fixes and so on.)
A bonus effect for the developers is that they get a bunch of paying play testers.

Cheers
Olle

[Ssnake]

a)

[Ssnake]

...but we're working on it.

[Skybird03]

If lacking sales organization is the problem, I recommend to have a look and the option Sonalysts choosed for release of their "Dangerous Waters", that is selling it via Battlefront.com. Nice side-effect: the money spared by that model went into magnificent multiple hundred pages of manual.

[PaleRider]

I have just returned from a year deployment, I,ve waited this long I can wait a while longer. Keep fightin the good fight guys!

[Hub]

I'm happy to wait for the devs to do the legwork. That's what the $125 is for. If any outfit wants me to playtest, they can pay me to do it, not the other way around...

[Thiefcatcher]

I cant here this "Bla,bla....release it NOW" stuff anymore. It will come when its done.

Ende und aus

TC

[chrisotto]

If lacking sales organization is the problem, I recommend to have a look and the option Sonalysts choosed for release of their "Dangerous Waters", that is selling it via Battlefront.com.

Well, Dangerous Waters isn't really a real life army training tool, is it?

[CommC]

Devs,
You might consider Matrix Games to "publish" or handle the selling of SB Pro PE and SB 2. They use Digital River to handle the download and they have done an excellent job. They sell many games available as downloads only from the net. I think the overhead and transaction costs are very low.

[Kingtiger]

They use Digital River to handle the download and they have done an excellent job. They sell many games available as downloads only from the net.

Well, many SB players still use 56K modem, think about those poor bastards, but othervise its a good idea

[Skybird03]

If lacking sales organization is the problem, I recommend to have a look and the option Sonalysts choosed for release of their "Dangerous Waters", that is selling it via Battlefront.com.

Well, Dangerous Waters isn't really a real life army training tool, is it?

So what...?

Both SB and DW are very much niche-products, as far as the broad gaming public is concerned. Does secrecy regulations delay the shipping of SB...?! ;)

[chrisotto]

Does secrecy regulations delay the shipping of SB...?!

Not secrecy, but the fact that Battlefront would demand a fee for reaching a large portion of the wargaming community, whilst a self-distribuiton is more fitting for a USD 125 project with a limited customer base. Especially with probably thin margins @ Esimgames.

[GaryOwen]

Battlefront doesn't seem too inclined to help out the competition anyway. See the fifth post from the top in this thread:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=46;t=000004#000004

[Mace]

Battlefront doesn't seem too inclined to help out the competition anyway. See the fifth post from the top in this thread:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=46;t=000004#000004

I've been a regular poster over at the Battlefront forums for some time. It's safer to post a link to a non-BTS sim in their general forum than in one of their game related forums.

...as long as you post more like a 'fan' rather than a 'marketer'. ;)

Mace