Bring back demos

[male_07.mdl]

Remember good old times, when almost every game had demo version to test it out? Where have they gone? Now almost every game is like "buy it, don't like it/poor performance/other reasons - eat s***". There could be demos for popular games such as Mafia III, Watch Dogs 2 or maybe even GTA V, so people could get the game and test it out if it works for them. I appreciate every developer who puts demo version for their game.

[Narcoleptic Marshmallow]

In the "good old times", there were no reviews, no gameplay videos, no massive community feedback, and no choice.

Some games on Steam still have demos, and it's up to the developer to decide to create one or not. Since a demo is basically coding an entirely different game, most opt out of it, because the alternatives I listed above simply make demos not viable as a business strategy anymore. Developers would be making a whole new, free version of their games, for people who aren't going to buy the game anyway.

There's no excuse, in new times, for not knowing if you're going to like a game before buying.

[Start_Running]

male_07.mdl eredeti hozzászólása:

Remember good old times, when almost every game had demo version to test it out? Where have they gone? Now almost every game is like "buy it, don't like it/poor performance/other reasons - eat s***". There could be demos for popular games such as Mafia III, Watch Dogs 2 or maybe even GTA V, so people could get the game and test it out if it works for them. I appreciate every developer who puts demo version for their game.

They would make demos. if the gaming comunity didn't convince them that producing demos reduces their sales.

Now why would you spend money to do something that will reduce the amount of money you take in.

[male_07.mdl]

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

male_07.mdl eredeti hozzászólása:

Remember good old times, when almost every game had demo version to test it out? Where have they gone? Now almost every game is like "buy it, don't like it/poor performance/other reasons - eat s***". There could be demos for popular games such as Mafia III, Watch Dogs 2 or maybe even GTA V, so people could get the game and test it out if it works for them. I appreciate every developer who puts demo version for their game.

They would make demos. if the gaming comunity didn't convince them that producing demos reduces their sales.

Now why would you spend money to do something that will reduce the amount of money you take in.

So why did they made thing called "refunds"? Refunds also takes money from developer and gives it to user.

[HLCinSC]

male_07.mdl eredeti hozzászólása:

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

They would make demos. if the gaming comunity didn't convince them that producing demos reduces their sales.

Now why would you spend money to do something that will reduce the amount of money you take in.

So why did they made thing called "refunds"? Refunds also takes money from developer and gives it to user.

A combination of factors including but not limited to increasing legal pressure and increased competition.

I can't remember where I read it but after refunds were introduced, it actually increased sales as more people were wiliing to take a risk on a game. For example, sales might jump 10%, but after refunds are factored in it becomes more like 8% but is still an increase overall.

Demos are an expense devs/pubs don't see as worthwhile investment and in this internet day and age of steam refunds, family sharing, broadcasting, user reviews, and third party gaming sites/reviews I think most people feel they are not needed as much as before. Obviously, no customer is going to complain if they offer a demo though..

[Smugass Braixen-Chan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY

[Start_Running]

male_07.mdl eredeti hozzászólása:

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

They would make demos. if the gaming comunity didn't convince them that producing demos reduces their sales.

Now why would you spend money to do something that will reduce the amount of money you take in.

So why did they made thing called "refunds"? Refunds also takes money from developer and gives it to user.

Refunds were alwatys a thing on steam actually. The only change now is the system is more automated. The other thing about refunds is that while they cost sales... they don't cost the publishers or devs money.

Building a demo, means you have to have a small team devoted to making it and keeping it upto date with the rest of project. So essentially you're paying 5+ people a full-time salary for months to get a demo. And then only to have it reduce the number of sales?

[Aahzmandias]

Steam refunds are doing this job for me, now. If games crashes, or do something I don't like, or is simple not fun for me, I refund them.

Simple as that. In two hours I tend to know, if I like a game, or not. If not, off it goes.


It has the advantage, that the program code is actually in the state the devs think, it is up to date. Some devs are very silly that way ....A demo is technically outdated every time, and therefore even more useless.

And expensive to make.

[Start_Running]

mkess eredeti hozzászólása:

Steam refunds are doing this job for me, now. If games crashes, or do something I don't like, or is simple not fun for me, I refund them.

Simple as that. In two hours I tend to know, if I like a game, or not. If not, off it goes.


It has the advantage, that the program code is actually in the state the devs think, it is up to date. Some devs are very silly that way ....A demo is technically outdated every time, and therefore even more useless.

And expensive to make.

Except that using the Refund feature as a demo tool is likely to get you in trouble if you do it too much.

[76109108007942031]

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

mkess eredeti hozzászólása:

Steam refunds are doing this job for me, now. If games crashes, or do something I don't like, or is simple not fun for me, I refund them.

Simple as that. In two hours I tend to know, if I like a game, or not. If not, off it goes.


It has the advantage, that the program code is actually in the state the devs think, it is up to date. Some devs are very silly that way ....A demo is technically outdated every time, and therefore even more useless.

And expensive to make.

Except that using the Refund feature as a demo tool is likely to get you in trouble if you do it too much.

It's still better than Steam hounding devs to make demos.

[Start_Running]

Sir Illic eredeti hozzászólása:

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

Except that using the Refund feature as a demo tool is likely to get you in trouble if you do it too much.

It's still better than Steam hounding devs to make demos.

Steam didn't do that to begin with. Devs stopped making demos because gamers rtaught them that there's an 8 in 9 chance of the demo having at best no effec and a 6 in 9 chance of the demo having a neagative effect.

That, and games have become so large and complex with their mechanics that it's near impossible to creat a short demo that properly shows the mechanics and gives the right impression of pacing.

[76109108007942031]

Start_Running eredeti hozzászólása:

Sir Illic eredeti hozzászólása:

It's still better than Steam hounding devs to make demos.

Steam didn't do that to begin with. Devs stopped making demos because gamers rtaught them that there's an 8 in 9 chance of the demo having at best no effec and a 6 in 9 chance of the demo having a neagative effect.

That, and games have become so large and complex with their mechanics that it's near impossible to creat a short demo that properly shows the mechanics and gives the right impression of pacing.

Oh I never meant to imply that Steam hounded the devs, I was just saying that the refund system is better than Steam having to ask devs to make demos.

[ted]

Narcoleptic Marshmallow eredeti hozzászólása:

In the "good old times", there were no reviews, no gameplay videos, no massive community feedback, and no choice.

Some games on Steam still have demos, and it's up to the developer to decide to create one or not. Since a demo is basically coding an entirely different game, most opt out of it, because the alternatives I listed above simply make demos not viable as a business strategy anymore. Developers would be making a whole new, free version of their games, for people who aren't going to buy the game anyway.

There's no excuse, in new times, for not knowing if you're going to like a game before buying.

You can look at reviews, videos etc all you want, but you still are not able to try the gameplay out for yourself. A game could look great in videos and the reviews could say it is good, but you could buy the game and then realise "Huh, the gameplay actually feels bad" or "This feature is not all that good."

Demos are still better than the words of people you don't know.

[Start_Running]

♥♥♥ nerd eredeti hozzászólása:

Narcoleptic Marshmallow eredeti hozzászólása:

In the "good old times", there were no reviews, no gameplay videos, no massive community feedback, and no choice.

Some games on Steam still have demos, and it's up to the developer to decide to create one or not. Since a demo is basically coding an entirely different game, most opt out of it, because the alternatives I listed above simply make demos not viable as a business strategy anymore. Developers would be making a whole new, free version of their games, for people who aren't going to buy the game anyway.

There's no excuse, in new times, for not knowing if you're going to like a game before buying.

You can look at reviews, videos etc all you want, but you still are not able to try the gameplay out for yourself. A game could look great in videos and the reviews could say it is good, but you could buy the game and then realise "Huh, the gameplay actually feels bad" or "This feature is not all that good."

Demos are still better than the words of people you don't know.

And of course people with that mind set will clearly not be satisfied until they've played through the wghole game at least once. :)

[MrL0G1C]

"Since a demo is basically coding an entirely different game"

This is wrong, Demos are very easy for devs to make, a couple of small coding changes, strip out a lot of the assets and it's done, they don't have to remake anything.

[Start_Running]

mrL0G1C eredeti hozzászólása:

"Since a demo is basically coding an entirely different game"

This is wrong, Demos are very easy for devs to make, a couple of small coding changes, strip out a lot of the assets and it's done, they don't have to remake anything.

NOt so fast there champ. Once uppon a time yeah buty games are not divided arbitarily into levels as they used to be. Also the mechanics are more complex as are their interactions.

Demos have to be built as vertical slices these days and even then, they have to very carefuly showcase the spectacle and the mechanics. And the joke is, even if you make a great demo for a great game... here's the thing. It only has a marginal impact on sales. And even there the impact is more often negaticve since some people will just stick to playing the demo.