Paying for a game

[Juicer97]

Personally, I have no problem giving a few dollars to pareon devs whose games have amassed a considerable amount of the continent. But on the other hand, when Japanese game studios want to charge me 50 bucks a piece, I don't know what to feel. I'm a little conscientious about pirating, but on the other hand I can't really pay 30-60 dollars for a game that I'm not sure I'll like very much. The only games so far that I payed retail price and felt were great value were Treasure of Nadia and being a dik, city of broken dreams, if all games were such quality then I would have no trouble paying their retail price.

*How often do you support developers or buy a ready-made game from the studio? Would you pay 60 bucks for japanese eroge game?

 

[Hadley]

I supported a few Games with 5-10$ and bought a few on Steam. But I really dont like the whole Patreon model. It really does not encourage Devs to actually finish a Game.

Look at Summertime Saga. Nobody in the fucking world can tell me that they aren't milking that shit to hell and back again. They literally developing as slow as possible.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

I've never put down 60 or 50 bucks for a smut game in one transaction. Japanese devs are the only ones who can make games that warrant that price (by having dozens of hours of gameplay and lots of content), and what they put out is usually a censored rapefest, so I'll pass. That said, if you buy it on Steam you can try it for up to 119 minutes (or 13 days) and then get a refund if you don't like it.

I have paid more than 60 over Patreon over time for projects I support that are made by rock-solid devs that update regularly and have a finish line.

 

[woody554]

Look at Summertime Saga. Nobody in the fucking world can tell me that they aren't milking that shit to hell and back again. They literally developing as slow as possible.

the pace has never changed from the original glacially slow snail pace. it started slow, has always been slow, will always be slow. as much as I hate it, they've obviously never slowed down just to milk it longer. they're just incredibly bad at project management and never learn. this pace is the best they can do.

and it always delivers the same amount of content, year after year after year. like a clock. maybe that's because they never hurried up and burned out like EVERYBODY else?

 

[pantypriv]

I'm willing to pay a one-time amount for a game, for example through a store or, if at all possible, a one time donation to a dev that gets you access to the finished game.
Not comfortable with a subscription.
At the same time I can see that devs require funding, of course.

Is kickstarter a thing for adult games?

 

[chainedpanda]

I used to subscribe to games when I first started. A dollar here, five there, but I was burned several times. Either game was abandoned, the dev decided to milk their subs etc, or the simply took a turn for the worse.

I don't sub anymore. At most, I'll drop a few bucks here or there on games or devs that I really like but never sub. I don't even pay for updates, just whenever I feel like dropping a bit. I'm 100% pro piracy, so I have no issue pirating everything.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

As a dev myself it's hard to justify piracy, and it really sucks when your work gets passed around for free like a used bicycle.

But as a player I get it, I really do. And I was a player long before I was a dev. Today it's getting harder and harder for most people to put food on the table, so it's understandable that folks are gonna pirate as much digital entertainment as they can get away with. My personal take on this is that the best way to 'combat' piracy isn't by restricting content or trying to fight pirates head-on (which is a fool's errand anyway), but to try and produce content that makes people want to support you.

 

[anne O'nymous]

My personal take on this is that the best way to 'combat' piracy isn't by restricting content or trying to fight pirates head-on (which is a fool's errand anyway), but to try and produce content that makes people want to support you.

It's not just your take, it's also the one of the game industry.

I remember the 80's, when I started as a bad guy breaking the anti-piracy codes of CPC games ; like everyone on the demo scene, but shush, it's a secret At this time they tried everything, even mandatory dongles and things like that. The industry spent millions in research and development to protect their games. Then they gave up, going to the same conclusion than you.
When CD-ROM, then DVD became a thing, they just tested that the disk was present. Nowadays they use an activation key. Both are weak protections. They know it, but don't search to change this. It's enough to prevent average Joe to pirate their game, it's all they want.
Those who really want to pirate their games will not buy them anyway, therefore they try to target those in between. They try to make games good enough for players to prefer to buy them, than waiting for a pirated version to appear, then passing a week to search one that isn't a scam or a Trojan.

 

[CurvyLinesEverywhere]

I have paid more than 60 over Patreon over time for projects I support that are made by rock-solid devs that update regularly and have a finish line.

Please list these magical devs for us. Links would be great, but I'll settle for names.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Please list these magical devs for us. Links would be great, but I'll settle for names.

You must be registered to see the links

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[Crimson Delight Games]

Those who really want to pirate their games will not buy them anyway, therefore they try to target those in between. They try to make games good enough for players to prefer to buy them, than waiting for a pirated version to appear, then passing a week to search one that isn't a scam or a Trojan.

Yeah, pretty much this. There comes a point when it's more of a hassle to pirate something than just pay for it, especially if you know the game is good and the company producing it has a solid track record (like for example CDPR before they screwed up and disappointed everyone with Cyberpunk 2077). I remember back in the day when I was a kid and Blizzard was the synonym for quality content, most of my friends would try to get original boxed copies of their newest release, even if we were more than happy to trade back and forth CDs with other less reputable titles. But a Blizzard game was something you just had to have. I still have my WoW boxes and old CDs decorating the shelf in my work room.