Subscription or kickstarter for Imperator development

[IsaacCAT]

A publicly traded company should not (and probably cannot?) accept handouts; that's what the shareholders are for!

If a for profit project needs charity to be viable, it either isn't financially viable, or it hasn't been monetised properly.

The idea is not to give money away. Is to have a long term contract that includes quality development for a number of years.

The terms of the contract should be written to include this, whether is a subscription service or a one time payment.

It is not an easy problem that I am sure many companies are trying to find out what is best for them.

I have said previously that I would like PDX to offer a subscription service for all games from PDS. Now, I will include that this subscription service shall make mandatory that all games published shall have quality content developed for minimum 4 years, no matter how many players play the game monthly or daily. Because the subscription service will give you access to all PDS games, present and future with all their DLCs, it will not matter if one game is a flop. This will make sure we get the minimum development for all the games published.

EDIT: just to clarify, this subscription service should be always optional. I do not want to have a subscription only model for all games PDS.

 

[cristofolmc]

It's a great idea. But if they are not willing to do this and this game is actually dead for good and after a year they have no intention of doing anything with it, they should sell or give away the rights and engine and tools or make it open source for the community to develop it. If they are gonna kill it, at least let people have a go at it.

 

[Llort_7991]

Because absolutely nobody would have paid to receive what imperator should have been at the start?

I, at least would have. But I understand what you mean

If they fix the game as I mentioned it is a complete game IMO. Give us a few extra modding tools and we as a playerbase will be on our way.

Modding now is easy enough but It would be handy to have a image and / or 3D model 'incorporator' (linking art with game code)
I have modded the game for myself quite a bit. However this is the only thing I feel is missing when it comes to modding.

 

[Dnote]

Hey,

Whilst the sentiment is nice, please don't start a kickstarter or any other funding scheme. As I said in the other thread, its people we're a little short of right now, and that isn't because of how much we pay, but rather its quite difficult to recruit in Stockholm right now, not only because of the pandemic but also because there are quite a lot of quality studios in the city and they are all hiring growing as well.

Thanks,

 

[scriptkiddy]

Because absolutely nobody would have paid to receive what imperator should have been at the start?

I would have.

 

[Wesum]

Hey,

Whilst the sentiment is nice, please don't start a kickstarter or any other funding scheme. As I said in the other thread, its people we're a little short of right now, and that isn't because of how much we pay, but rather its quite difficult to recruit in Stockholm right now, not only because of the pandemic but also because there are quite a lot of quality studios in the city and they are all hiring growing as well.

Thanks,

Couldn’t you hire internationally? I am sure that some Spanish programmer getting 1000 per month or simply unemployed would love to move to Stockholm. Also, Game Dev is literally the childhood dream of thousands of people just in europe.

 

[Dnote]

Couldn’t you hire internationally? I am sure that some Spanish programmer getting 1000 per month or simply unemployed would love to move to Stockholm. Also, Game Dev is literally the childhood dream of thousands of people just in europe.

We have been, but the pandemic has made it difficult for people to move (either physically or psychologically). I'm not sure what the numbers are like in the studio, but in my team of nine, eight people have been hired from abroad and moved to Stockholm.

 

[Kristaliorn]

Really hope they manage to support this game again, I like many am feeling very let down! Especially when they continue to produce content for much older games. That clearly isn't going through any kind of quality control.

 

[Jak9090]

im down for this

 

[Cronus865]

PDX is worth a couple of a billion dollars. I don't think the issue is funding.

 

[IsaacCAT]

PDX is worth a couple of a billion dollars. I don't think the issue is funding.

The idea is not funding, but to make continuous development binding for this multi billion dollar company.

 

[IsaacCAT]

A new refinement to a suggestion:

PDS starts a subscription service for TIER 1 games that are going to be supported for 4 years minumum. The subscription allows access to the games and all its expansions for one year, renewable yearly.

Alternatively, players can buy the games as they do now.

TIER 2 games will be published but not included in the subscription service because PDX does not want to commit resources on the long term with those games. However, subscription members with two or more years paid, will have free access to these games and DLCs while the subscription is valid.

This gives flexibility to PDX not to put all games in TIER 1 and allows for rewards to loyal customers.

 

[Wenla]

We have been, but the pandemic has made it difficult for people to move (either physically or psychologically). I'm not sure what the numbers are like in the studio, but in my team of nine, eight people have been hired from abroad and moved to Stockholm.

Gaming: Growing industry...

 

[Borgratz]

Hey,

Whilst the sentiment is nice, please don't start a kickstarter or any other funding scheme. As I said in the other thread, its people we're a little short of right now, and that isn't because of how much we pay, but rather its quite difficult to recruit in Stockholm right now, not only because of the pandemic but also because there are quite a lot of quality studios in the city and they are all hiring growing as well.

Thanks,

In the spirit of Imperator, how would you feel about a slavestarter campaign into Germany or some other place full of barbarians?

 

[merulaalba]

We have been, but the pandemic has made it difficult for people to move (either physically or psychologically). I'm not sure what the numbers are like in the studio, but in my team of nine, eight people have been hired from abroad and moved to Stockholm.

You see, this is quality communication. It helps a lot to get a little insight into the general situation. I was not aware of how difficult it is to get a new workforce.
So, in theory, once the situation gets stabilized, Imperator: Rome could be revived? In theory?

 

[Badesumofu]

The idea is not funding, but to make continuous development binding for this multi billion dollar company.

But then how does it make sense for Paradox to agree to be bound?

 

[IsaacCAT]

But then how does it make sense for Paradox to agree to be bound?

Goodwill as defined in business terms:

The value of a company’s brand name, solid customer base, good customer relations, good employee relations, and proprietary technology represent some reasons why goodwill exists.

But see my refinement on the suggestion in this previous post here. That allows some flexibility for PDX and transparency for players.

 

[Slavicist]

A Kickstarter funding project is a great idea.

Of course, official Paradox should start it.

 

[scriptkiddy]

A new refinement to a suggestion:

PDS starts a subscription service for TIER 1 games that are going to be supported for 4 years minumum. The subscription allows access to the games and all its expansions for one year, renewable yearly.

Alternatively, players can buy the games as they do now.

TIER 2 games will be published but not included in the subscription service because PDX does not want to commit resources on the long term with those games. However, subscription members with two or more years paid, will have free access to these games and DLCs while the subscription is valid.

This gives flexibility to PDX not to put all games in TIER 1 and allows for rewards to loyal customers.

I find this subscription model to be more transparent and more fair to both new players as well as the old player base than the current state with all that countless DLC strategies. I even spoke out in favour of a subscription model request on the Stellaris forum as I wanted to join but especially the old players who have been owning the title and all of their expansions were very loud and determined in rejecting it, and that is as an option that wouldn’t substitute the current model but merely expand the payment options. That’s why I decided to be better off waiting for Stellaris 2 as I don’t like playing games without expansions or getting them on sale.

Your proposal might be suitable for new developings though, and since I:R was anyway more like a testing ground for different mechanics, or DLC policies etc. then why not starting with I:R? It definitely would recover my trust in the development of I:R again. And I certainly would wish for other PDX titles providing this option too. I would subscribe to Stellaris and HoI4, and even EU4 without hesitation.

 

[IsaacCAT]

I find this subscription model to be more transparent and more fair to both new players as well as the old player base than the current state with all that countless DLC strategies. I even spoke out in favour of a subscription model request on the Stellaris forum as I wanted to join but especially the old players who have been owning the title and all of their expansions were very loud and determined rejecting it, and that is as an option that wouldn’t substitute the current model but just the payment options. That’s why I decided to be better off waiting for Stellaris 2 as I don’t like playing games without expansions or getting them on sale.

Your proposal might be suitable for new developings though, and since I:R was anyway more like a testing ground for different mechanics, or DLC policies etc. then why not starting with I:R? It definitely would recover my trust in the development of I:R again. And I certainly would wish for other PDX titles providing this option too. I would subscribe to Stellaris, HoI4 and even EU4 without hesitation.

If we can dream of what we would like, for me this will be an announcement in PDXCON REMIXED for an optional yearly subscription service including:

TIER 1 games: PDXCON new game, CKIII and Imperator: ROME
TIER 2 games: HOI IV, EU4, Stellaris, and CKII

Price for subscription service 1 year: 120€. After two years paid (240€) you have access also to TIER 2 games with all their DLCs for free.