83 réponses à ce sujet

[cpz01]

anyone know if we will be able to use XBL or bio points to buy this? I am in Australia and the price difference between what games sell for in US and Australia is just crazy, often their is over a100% markup. And now to make it even more fun they have stopped Australian IP's from being able to buy titles on the cheap from D2D and Steam.

IMO $30USD (32AUD) is a bargain but if it turns into $70 AUD (65 USD) might have to reconsider, being a struggling student and all.

[Torias]

cpz01 wrote...
 And now to make it even more fun they have stopped Australian IP's from being able to buy titles on the cheap from D2D and Steam. 

Not completely accurate.

Only some publishers have done that.

Most publishers are willing to charge us the same price they charge americans.

I bought the Dragon Age Digital Deluxe Edition over steam and paid the normal american retail price for it, even though I am well and truly in Australia....

[oldbones]

All replies and comments read.



I have been a BioWare fan and supporter from the start. It is unbelievable that this Company will allow "EA" to interupt the integrity of / or viability of it's directors.



I will continue to support BioWare and 'hope' that "EA" will keep it's distance.

[Statue]

If they offer the expansion digitally for an amount of Bioware Points corresponding to the its retail price, that would keep those with accumulated Bioware Points and no DLC to spend them on happy regarding the OP's first question - I guess?

Re the cost of the expansion against the original game, I think we're gonna have to accept that it's less value for money. There's not really much consolation from the argument that the original constituted good value for money compared in hourage to games from other genres, because firstly, while I'm not saying it didn't represent good value for money, comparing hours of playtime of a CRPG with other genre games isn't much of a yardstick since CRPGs with lots of text to read and slower gameplay are generally going to do well in completion lengths against faster paced less-text heavy genres, and secondly, getting a good deal on the base component doesn't equate to the consumer being less value-for-money oriented when assessing the cost of the expansion. Consumers don't think "well I got a bargain on outlay one, so feel free to screw me on subsequent outlays".

It's a marketing ploy (call it marketing strategy if that sounds less cynical )  that consumers are not blind to - think low cost printers that take high-cost ink cartridges replacements, or cheap razors that take high-priced razorblades. Having snapped up the initial bargain, the consumer doesn't as a result of that initial bargain become unaware of what's going on when they subsequently get a little milked, they just begrudgingly accept it or don't. I guess the same thing will happen with the expansion - it'll still fly off the shelves like over-priced ink cartridges but the consumers won't be under any illusion that it isn't way less value for money, regardless of appeals to the fact that the initial outlay was good value for money. Consumers aren't as bamboozled by low-cost initial investments followed up with higher-cost additionals as marketing gurus might advise (same as they aren't really blind to the conventional pricing tactic to make prices appear lower than they might otherwise appear by costing at £x9.99 instead of a round number - but that is still the norm regardless). When customers see through such ploys, which they generally do, all they serve to accomplish is to increase consumer cynicism. I do somewhat sympathize with the constraints that generally fixed pricing in the game industry entail (what do you mean we can't sell our game for £54.58?), which in some way encourage having to pull creative long-term revenue strategies rather than selling stuff for what it is worth.

Ultimately though, I'm no more oblivious to the substantial difference in value for money between DAO and its expansion than I am under an illusion that a £39.99 product is significantly less than £40. Loss leader pricing and <round number pricing may be conventional and ubiquitous forms of marketing BS, but they're still forms of marketing BS

That said, okay I'll buy it you sneaky buggers.

Modifié par Statue, 06 janvier 2010 - 04:24 .

[Deception_2112]

I remember Mask of the Betrayer was advertised as being only 15hrs, but to me it ended up being almost the same length as the original game was which as a bargain for its price. The only issues were the bugs that came with it initially, but then NWN2 was plagued with bugs which made it a 8/10 rather than a 9/10.



Awakening seems like its advertised as 15hrs, but the trailers seem to show a much more complex storyline as opposed to just "go and kill this epic boss," i do hope intrigue, twists and etc which Bioware are famous for will be added into it.

[Ghandorian]

Given the performance of BioWare over the past few months I am skeptical of their ability to produce a stable product within any stated time frame. I would not recommend pre-ordering from them to my friends. I don't think this is a EA thing as the majority wish to claim, but an inability for the in-house development team to meet Quality Control guidelines . This engine is lackluster, the core game is buggy, shipping with the DEX bug was ludicrous, patches to fix bugs have not been tested enough prior to release, DLC can not be delivered due to a constant stream of bugs preventing certification.



I feel sorry for the OP who purchased those points ahead of time because he trusted in BW's products. I narrowly escaped that conundrum myself. I like BioWares products but I can't say I have faith in the quality of them anymore.

[addiction21]

Torias wrote...

addiction21 wrote...

Erlec wrote...


P.S. Do you know how much voice acting/new models/abilites/areas/story writing costs as well as time it takes?
If you don't like the price, wait for sale. If you want to help out the studio, then buy it if you want to.

So its 15 hours and thats all that matters. The length not the the content. /sarcasim

Honestly tho does anyone have a link to the thread or interview that A BIOWARE REPRESENITIVE (I.E> someone that actualy has the information and works for BW) stating this 15 hours game time?  Just asking because I have not found it anywhere. Maybe I just have not been looking in the right spots.

You know, I was wondering the same thing... I swear I read it somewhere, but I can't find it anywhere anymore.

I THINK it used to be mentioned on this page:
http://www.gamestop....roduct_id=76825

but I can't find mention of it anymore... maybe it was removed...

Unless it was qouted from a BW rep I would not be taking anything that a game site says to be near the truth. They tend to like to embelish a little or throw out false release dates to get people to start pre ordering for hyped up games.

[Jimmy Fury]

Torias wrote...

Consider the reverse....

Dragon Age: Origins should have cost more than $50.

All due respect (I'd never insult a mod) but that's a pretty weak point since it only applies to the PC version. Us console players did pay more than $50 for DA:O.

As for the pricing of the expansion. I don't rightly know how I feel yet. $40 for 15 hrs seems high but then i have no idea where the 15 hrs idea came from. It seems practically impossible based on everything the trailer shows.

Not to mention that, as someone on a similar thread pointed out, this mysterious 15 would only apply to a run through of the new story. The expansion will include a lot more stuff though. New spells, items, specializations, and most importantly, a re-spec option. Those additions alone will make the entire base-game more replayable (I think it said those parts will work with the base game... right?).
To me that should be counted in how much content is being included in the expansion.

Maybe once more details come out the pricing will make more sense.

[ComputerEd]

Torias wrote...

ComputerEd wrote...

Torias I understand your point and do believe BIOWARE gave us a great product but they, actually EA set the price point. If they could have charged more and did not that was their choice and has no bearing on this discussion.

I agree that I love the work BIOWARE does but am scared EA will ruin them.

Actually, it has every bearing on this discussion.

As for "set the price point", that's incorrect. There's the industry
standard price point ($60 for xbox / ps, $50 for pc). They couldn't
realistically go above that, even though the content provided justified
a much higher price.

This expansion was part of a long term plan to make their 5 years of effort profitable.


The Dragon Age: Origins retail price alone probably isn't enough to cover that 5 years of costs... this expansion has a role to play in covering those costs...

I stand corrected and I realized after I left the house this morning I had mis worded this. With the release of Dragon Age Bioware raised the bar for everyone on the amount of content per cost for a game. For them to dial it back after saetting such a high bar is the point I am making.

It is poor business practice to produce a product that pushes a standard well above the rest of the industry and then fall back on the next installement to the excuse everyone else does it this way.  Bioeware seriously did a great job raising the bar but to then try to duck under the bar they themselves set is just wrong.

[bucknut1007]

[quote]addiction21 wrote...

[/quote]

Unless it was qouted from a BW rep I would not be taking anything that a game site says to be near the truth. They tend to like to embelish a little or throw out false release dates to get people to start pre ordering for hyped up games.[/quote]

I completely agree. I wont trust anything about the length of the expansion until I find an official Bioware representative say how long the expansion is.

Also I don't think we have to worry about the release date for DA:A because at the end of the trailer it gives the release date. And for those that will argue that RtO was supposed to be released already and was delayed so don't take that release date to heart the expansion is going to be sold in stores, not through the internet (like DLC) so it is very unlikely that they will delay it for a bug. They would just patch it.

[saxo_g]

Well, it depends on your platform: according to GameStop's website, The Awakening is $40 for console pre-order and $30 for PC preorder. I think that's reasonable based on the list price of the original game (also leaving aside currency and exchange rate debates).

[AsheraII]

I think the only "sad" thing (for lack of a better word) is that Orlaisian characters won't be able to visit Ferelden (yes, they've said as much), since the happenings in Ferelden take place before the expansion, so an Orlaisian character would be illogical in Ferelden. However, this also means that an Orlaisian character can't access Ferelden DLC content, so in other words: no Shale for new characters.

I'm also wondering about the character level of the Orlaisian charactersL they won't have the experience of the Ferelden quests, so effectively, they'll be of lower level than their imported counterparts overall.



As for new DLC after the expansion: some will probably still be added to Ferelden, but most of the new DLC will probably take place in the new area.

[saxo_g]

AsheraII wrote...

I think the only "sad" thing (for lack of a better word) is that Orlaisian characters won't be able to visit Ferelden (yes, they've said as much), since the happenings in Ferelden take place before the expansion, so an Orlaisian character would be illogical in Ferelden. However, this also means that an Orlaisian character can't access Ferelden DLC content, so in other words: no Shale for new characters.
I'm also wondering about the character level of the Orlaisian charactersL they won't have the experience of the Ferelden quests, so effectively, they'll be of lower level than their imported counterparts overall.

As for new DLC after the expansion: some will probably still be added to Ferelden, but most of the new DLC will probably take place in the new area.

Unless I misread the announcement posts, there will be a new pool of recruitable party members, so, yes, maybe no Shale, but you'll have a new posse of NPCs. Also, there is some mechanism for importing your existing characters as I understand it, so there's probably some kind of auto-levelling built in.

Modifié par saxo_g, 06 janvier 2010 - 07:04 .

[Xerxes52]

As long as the content is great (which it probably will be), then I think $40 is worth it.

[Codemanjap]

biomag wrote...

Truth is, $ 40 for the expansion is very expensive for 15h of gameplay and there is no other company I would pay this price. Also I think that both DLC cost a lot and the Warden's Keep is a rip off (there should be an extension for this DLC that finishes it, so it just looks like a bad joke).

...BUT: I spent already more than 100 h with this game and enjoyed every one of it. BioWare made a great game and they have the point that their production cost have risen while the price for PC-games has not in years. I ain't thrilled by the idea of pay $ 40 for the expansion, still the cost will have to go up. Rather paying 20% more than in the past than seeing a company like BioWare giving up their standards because they can't cover the costs.

People keep talking about how expensive this is and I just remember back when I was a kid and had 100$ to spend on anything I wanted for Christmas. I bought Super Mario Bros RPG for 75$ before taxes. This was during the 90s so 75$ was worth even more than it is today. I think that game probably took me 25 maybe 30 hours to beat. 

[justair]

I don't think the content deserves a much higher price.. It just shows the dedication to releasing a game that surpasses overall expectation and raises the bar to a level not seen over many other games out there in recent years. Not all .. as there are exceptions and they to are quite popular. I have no problems with the price on the expansion, or on what they decide to charge for the DLCs. If it's to high then it gets adjusted. A trial/error type deal.

There is a business side to it all and the franchise does need to make money.  Personally, I hope they milk it for all its worth as that will mean alot of new content.  That's fine provided the quality is there.  Fans will support it.

Modifié par justair, 06 janvier 2010 - 07:23 .

[Gorath Alpha]

OK, now, Torias or whoever might know, or have some idea: is any part of the DLC going to already be included in the expansion, and how will the inclusion in, or lack of inclusion in, either the expansion, or in the "host" PC copy of the game affect the viability of the expansion? 

And why can't the feasibility of adding RtO into Awakening be discussed in its own thread? 

(Sorry about the odd grammatical dissonance I had to edit out!)

Gorath
-

Modifié par Gorath Alpha, 06 janvier 2010 - 07:54 .

[Raxtoren]

Erlec wrote...

First, I remember back in the day where we payed 120 $ to play a game for four hours (Price differences, plus tax, plus, plus plus) 40 $ is quite cheap, and it gives a incentive for more quality DLC's in the future/expansions. I will however not get it on the first days due to me being away from my gaming computer for at that time.

However, a retail expansion seems more of a PR/EA move, then a Bioware tactic. Nonetheless, I hope to get it over steam when I can and play it out.

P.S. Do you know how much voice acting/new models/abilites/areas/story writing costs as well as time it takes?
If you don't like the price, wait for sale. If you want to help out the studio, then buy it if you want to.

you remember back in the day when a game reatailed for 120 dollar?
I remember back in the day when a single DVD cost 150 dollar.
Even a single blu-ray disc at one point cost 100 dollar. heck, my dad was one of the first who bought coca cola here in sweden, guess what? they costed in our standards today almost for 20 dollars.
Does that mean today it cost 100 dollar to make a dvd? no.
Massproduction, technology widespread and more companies on the market has lower the price.
Its just as HDTV or 3DTV you want some technology that isnt mainstream, then pay up.
DLC isnt "complicated" or even new. Bioware just wanna make huge profits, and there is nothing wrong with that.
But the excuse for the price that bioware always come up with is laughable.
And plz, dont lie to the consumer, wardens keep wasnt 3-4 hours.

Modifié par Raxtoren, 06 janvier 2010 - 07:59 .

[ComputerEd]

The EA store is listing the preorder at $29.95 not the $29.95 price originally mentioned. This is getting a lot closer to a reasonable pricing.

[Gorath Alpha]

Incidentally, one of these like this should be sufficient, I would think!

[goat_fab]

 I don't sit at home and track what BioWare is doing at all times, but I'm pretty sure they're fairly dependable when it comes to content release. I HIGHLY doubt they will create what? 4 DLC packets and an expansion after only a couple months and then ditch DA:O entirely. To even think so is completely stupid, no offense.

I've never seen a time where expansions directly affected DLC, except for TF2 and L4D2 which only happened to help pump out L4D2 quicker. A few weeks later, TF2 got it's free update.

Don't worry about it. Being pessimistic is, again, stupid. 

[JironGhrad]

Something else to consider... According to Bioware, they were prepared to release the PC version back in March of last year. If that so, then the PC assets were probably freed to begin work on this expansion and so they'd have approximately a year's worth of time invested in this new campaign. The actual conversion of art assets and the campaign files to 360/PS3 format is almost certainly less time consuming than coding the engine (which is the stated reasons for delaying the game until November) which gives the timetable presented a certain degree of validity.

[Demonic Spoon]

So they gave us this amazing deal to start the franchise, three games worth of content for the price of one.

Most modern games don't last 15 hours. Awakening for 15 hours and $40 will:

Oh please. The vast majority of games last longer than 15 hours...and most of them have multiplayer modes.

DA:O is a linear, SINGLE-PLAYER ONLY RPG. They packed in a lot of content because they absolutely need to to make such a game good. DA:O has a crapton of content, yes, but not "three game's worth" by a long shot. Oblivion and Fallout 3, for example, had similar amounts of gameplay (just less of it was concentrated in the main storyline).



$40 for 15 hours of expanison is a lot. That said, who knows? Maybe it'll be -great- content that will be worthwhile. I predict a large amount of DA:O's replayability will come from the inevitable new campaigns people create due to the toolset-I imagine the expansion will provide more stuff for them to play with.

There's many reasons I might buy the expansion, but unless that 15-hour figure ramps up significantly, lack of content will be a significant negative.

[NvVanity]

The 40 dollars does seem a tad overpriced to me but not at the level of some rip-off's i paid for in the past. I like to think of Dragon Age: Awakening like The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion. While Oblivion isn't a story driven game it's main questline for the SI I completed in roughly five-six hours depending on difficulty. 15 hours of game play is what we're getting but lets not forget the multiple decisions we can make, the different outcome that could depend via origin and who we made king or queen. I'm expecting to be going through all 7 of my current playthroughs with a new one as the Orlesian background their adding. So that's 8 in total multiply 15 by that and it equals 120 hours.



Awakening is bringing in new areas to explore like Amaranthine and other parts of Ferelden previously not visited it could end up being larger then the SI or maybe less either way the SI was mainly one city, one average sized town, a few villages and a crap ton of caves with random spawning loot while DA has much more detailed and less redundant areas (not to rip on Oblivion but every cave felt the same).



Let's also not forget the new weapons and enemies. We're getting a huge variety of new darkspawn it seems as well as Dragons and other creatures. The Shivering Isles added about the same number of enemies then again DA: A isn't out yet so who there could be a lot more in store.



So far based on observations and guesses i'd price DA: A at 30 dollars like SI. I'd price it higher if I knew what else was in store but i'll wait.

[saxo_g]

saxo_g wrote...

Well, it depends on your platform: according to GameStop's website, The Awakening is $40 for console pre-order and $30 for PC preorder. I think that's reasonable based on the list price of the original game (also leaving aside currency and exchange rate debates).

This is weird. Yesterday, the prices were shown as above at the GS site. Today, all versions are listed at $40. I don't know what to make of that.