Really Wanted To Play But...

[₹GemmaFaye₹]

This is very expensive, Are you planning to make any discount for this game so we can actually play it?

[Lörs]

This. 40€ for a 2-terrain early access is way too much!

[₹GemmaFaye₹]

Agreed i would understand this price if it was for the full release but the fact that there is still a lot to do with this game well at least i hope so the price they have put on this game will just put a lot of people off the game while it is in thei current state.

[Retro]

buy a compass and walk outside and you'll have the same experience

[₹GemmaFaye₹]

The fact that they are charging this price for a game that all you do is walk around in is beyond me tbh, Yes i still want to try it out but only when it comes down in price of goes on sale.

[akummov]

+1, game is very very very expensive.

[UberNoobX]

I've decided to give it a go and return it for refund if I feel it's not going in the right direction atm :D

[₹GemmaFaye₹]

Please let me know what you think about it would like to know if it is worth picking up too

[caodecaca]

Originally posted by akummov:

+1, game is very very very expensive.

agree

[Liafeon]

@All: Do you actually know where your nearest fixed orienteering course is? Mine is 500m down the road from me. You Americans probably don't have one in a 2km radius (screw the haters!)

[Quint]

I agree. £34.99 seems very steep (pun intended) for this considering it's in EA. Half that price would be closer to the mark.

I hope sales don't go south as a result of this.

:D

[Recon]

Keep in mind Steam takes 30%. so if the developer charged 20 bucks.. They lucky to get 15 dollars... Seeing that programs like 3DS MAX, cost 3-5 k for one license, and many others cost even more... to make games. Plus time, etc, etc..

So guys keep all that in mind, when asking why a game is priced at 40 dollars. The developers will keep great support and order to do so they need to make a living, making under 15 dollars, is not alot... They also have shown a great game and I'm sure will keep adding unlike some other EA games.

[₹GemmaFaye₹]

Originally posted by Recon:

Keep in mind Steam takes 30%. so if the developer charged 20 bucks.. They lucky to get 15 dollars... Seeing that programs like 3DS MAX, cost 3-5 k for one license, and many others cost even more... to make games. Plus time, etc, etc..

So guys keep all that in mind, when asking why a game is priced at 40 dollars. The developers will keep great support and order to do so they need to make a living, making under 15 dollars, is not alot... They also have shown a great game and I'm sure will keep adding unlike some other EA games.

What you say makes sense, However would they not make more money by lowering the price so more people buy the game? At the current price a lot of players are put off the game so they are missing out on sales altogether.

[ecank]

Originally posted by GemmaFox:

This is very expensive, Are you planning to make any discount for this game so we can actually play it?

i agree, are developers thinking about making a discount at winter sale?

[透明人間]

Originally posted by Recon:

Keep in mind Steam takes 30%. so if the developer charged 20 bucks.. They lucky to get 15 dollars... Seeing that programs like 3DS MAX, cost 3-5 k for one license, and many others cost even more... to make games. Plus time, etc, etc..

So guys keep all that in mind, when asking why a game is priced at 40 dollars. The developers will keep great support and order to do so they need to make a living, making under 15 dollars, is not alot... They also have shown a great game and I'm sure will keep adding unlike some other EA games.

No, that price is still not reasonable at all.

What you said applies to everyone. From triple-A titles to small indie games.
I don't know what the personal circumstances of the developers are but just look around steam and the overall pricing and business models.
From a development point of view, costs and everything, this is really bad value for money.

There's 3 kinds of EA price models.
1) A price that's equivalent to the quantity and quality of content that you get during the EA phase of the product, and will increase post-EA to reflect the value of the full game. That way, people who consider buying the game, might actually get it sooner rather than later, and early adopters don't feel ripped off for paying full price for an unfinished product or having to take the risk and wait for months for a promised concept that may never come true.
2) A price that stays the same throughout development of the game and after release. It shows that the developers have confidence in their product and raise the bar high. People have to pay full price, but without all the content being there, only a promise.
3) A price that is actually higher than the post-EA price. This is almost like crowdfunding, and is meant for people who want to support the development of a game, or are too eager to try it out even if it's not "content-complete" and are willing to pay any given price for what it currently is (or is not).

For the amount of content (and quality) this game has, I would currently value it around 10~15$, 20~30$ tops for the promise of what's to come and potential, if nothing else.

This is the only orienteering game on steam at the moment so they can get away with not being competitive since there's no other alternatives for consumers or competition to be on par with as far as content (bang for your buck) goes.

This game can either monopolize its orienteering theme as an expensive niche, that only hardcore orienteering fans will ever buy (and they probably will, for any price and regardless of quality, as there's no alternatives), or it can actually take advantage of the thousands of potential buyers on this platform, who will check out and buy a game, if it has a fair price model and offers quality content.

I know this is a niche theme, but the quality is there (the reviews so far can back this up). The price however, is not. Whether an impulsive buyer, or a savvy consumer, I doubt there will be many people who will actually pull the trigger with this price tag.

A great example of this is Euro Truck Simulator. An otherwise niche themed simulator made by a really small but dedicated indie studio. Snowballing into becoming one of the most successful games on steam, with thousands of people playing it, and 77k overwhelmingly positive reviews! Who would have thought?!

Now what do you think would have happened, if ETS2 was obnoxiously priced around, say 50$?
Only a handful of people, probably truck drivers or driving enthusiasts with 300$ racing wheels would have bought it, and the developers would just sell overpriced dlc to the "whales".

Virtual-O doesn't have to go down that road! The quality is there, the uniqueness is there, passionate development behind it is there, and so is interest from people who want to give it a try!
I'm sure it can get away with a few sugar daddy orienteers buying licensed products like the EA compass as paid dlc. But I know this game can be so much more, and have a big community.

If lack of funds is impeding further development, crowdfunding could be an option.

And who am I but a potential customer lost right?
This graph doesn't lie however. http://steamcharts.com/app/529020#All

tl;dr: This game has potential, but the price model is suicidal.

[Contours]

Hi,
thanks for your feedback.

I will try to show you other reasons that you need to consider when picking price. It's not always about earning most money in first months.

• It's early access game and price has its EA purpose.
  
• Now with actual price it's probably interesting only for dedicated supporters of the orienteering game or for people with passion for navigation. Well and it is so intentionally? Yes
  
• Game is not yet ready for people outside of the hardcore orienteering/navigation community. Tutorial is not explaining navigation concepts, Game is simply not kind enough to normal user. We would like to change it in future? Of course, but right now it's not yet that time.
  
• I really believe that if price would be 10$ now, you would see 100 negative reviews from users that didn't read Virtual-O store description and they were thinking that they are buying another survival game.
  
• Virtual-O is using cloud features. Imagine what would happen if too many people will get on board at start and system wouldn't scale good enough. Now we can scale it progressively while keeping solid system for existing players.
  
• Virtual-O easily delivers 20 hours of gameplay. Is it not enough for initial EA release? If you think it's not, you can buy it later or never. Or you can buy it now and support its development. It's your right to make this decision and both are perfectly ok.

P.S.:
Every boy was playing with cars, trucks, trains. Are trucks really comparable to Virtual-O target audience?

Nice day
Peter