Of course.
But as said, is it really good/fair if you have a game that looks like this:
200k (given wordcount with code)
180k (without code)
75k (playthrough)
BUT
120k (without additional material)
as I think the 120k would get a different pricing than 180k/200k, right?
But seperating out prose from code for a complete wordcount is kind of difficult. Also what are you counting as ‘additional material’?
Glossaries, Who’s Who, that kind of thing. While helpful in some cases, it’s something that usually stops one from ‘playing’ the game.
(one reason I don’t count the 10k words of bonus material in my game to the wordcount)
If you think it is unfair to include the code which still takes time to write and effort to work with just as much as writing the story. What do you think about games that have scenes with slight variations? Should repeated scenes be taken into account?
For example here is a possible code/scene for a game.
Scenario One
*if (MeltingPenguins)
"I think the total wordcount shouldn't include code," says MeltingPenguins.
*if (Nocturnal_Stillness)
"I think the total wordcount should include code," says Nocturnal_Stillness.
Scenario two
"I think the total wordcount ${opinion} include code," says ${author}.
comparing these two scenarios. Both would show the player the same scene but the overall wordcount for the scenarios is different.
Its why I think the average wordcount of a playthrough would be more useful, a badly coded game could bloat the overall wordcount but likewise a well coded game could drop the wordcount and the reader won’t be able to see how much effort the coding is.
One of my objectives with the edits of my game was to streamline the code as while I agree code can give an opinion of a higher count than the reader expects I also believe the coding should be just as important as it still takes time and effort to write as well as bug fixes.
I think my problem is as an author now its hard to look at these games as just games/stories but as a fellow authors work and am too aware of the effort it can take.
It’s, actually, pretty much what I meant, looking at it this way.
Also it seems, looking at some reviews, that people already deem the given wordcount to be what to expect per playthrough.
So, maybe giving full wordcount (with/out code) and playthrough count might be a way?
both for descriptions and determining the costs?
I’m fairly certain that the prices are set professionally, and not by popular opinion. Sure, if a game doesn’t sell well, prices may be reevaluated, but I doubt they are affected by simple discussion instead of buying actions.
All your judgements are subjective and thus arbitrary. I really enjoy the background info, maps, medals and such provided by the Infinity series. (Sabres and Guns) and consider these value added. Whether you want to acknowledge the fact that these are part of the offered game is irrelevant.
These are offered as part and parcel of the game and should be included in any count.
I didn’t say they can’t be enjoyable.
Yeah, it’s subjective, but I doubt I’m the only one feeling cheated when I was promised 50k words per playthrough and 25k of these are the always same bonus material.
You are a little high and @Lorikeet is low. Since it is 25% of the net rather than the gross, I think the number would be more like $.70 for a $4 game that goes to the author.
Which game or games do you feel cheated you out of your money? Have you tried getting a refund?
I’m confysed, what summary offers ‘x words per playthrough’? I can only recall summaries of the total word count.
Surely you exaggerate the size of the “bonus material” … I can not think of any Hosted game or CoG title which has more “supplemental” material then the Infinity series and it doesn’t have a fifth of what you cite.
From your post history, I assume you reference annoyance over the add-ons such as the chirp alarm gimmick for Sergi’s works … are there other concrete examples you can provide me because I can’t really recall any material such as you cite.
Some bonus materials are essential for the “soul” of the story, such as epilogue and some history of the world/time-line … i agree that for some readers, they don’t care about the detail / background / closure for a story as long as they had enjoy themselves in “winning” the story with good achievement or being at the top of the world , but personally… “playing” too much of an interactive novel will lose its lure for me , for example …i have a decision/choice to make almost every page where these decision may “seems” to result in certain outcome, like saving someone, gaining an ally, solving a case , winning a battle etc… but at the end of the day, without further elaboration regarding these tasks, like who actually are those persons i save, where are they after i save them or what significant of my actions contributes towards the political/cultural status of the game world… it sort of lost the soul and purpose of the story for me…
Please allow me to refer to Tin Star once again since it is my favourite interactive novel thus far,
it provides us with detail history background regarding the Old America’s political structure , the relationship with native indians and the construction of the rail road across america , it also provides us with law enforcement background during that era where i understand the difference between a US Marshal and a local Sheriff , and i am also intrigue with the fact that a marshal can hire his own deputy as he see fits ( during that era, i assume that all Marshals are males although the game allow me to hire a female deputy) , to the extend regarding the process of how a Marshal can be officially employ ( a county cannot have 2 Marshals , and the confirmation is legalised by US treasury with final confirmation by the President )… These may seem to be view as “Bonus Material” but they are the soul of the story for us to really live in that world…
and as for the epilogue, all characters ranging from major characters to minor characters such as the merchant from China had been given a concluded closure about their fate , even the fate of Lander County and America in general had been given a detail closure … These may be seen as unwanted materials by some readers, but for others these are the essential legacy that define how our choices and actions had affected everyone in general
Okay, maybe we can agree on this:
BonusMats can be nice and add to the game, of course (otherwise I’d not be writing any).
But it can be a bit of a bitter surprise when one can get the feeling there’s more BonusMats than story.
Here’s the issue though: Should we charge based on the effort put in? or the experience and results the players receive?
The answer is apparent for anyone with common sense. But what’s more is that only a handful of games here manage to intrigue me enough for anything more than one playthrough which means I’ll only ever get a fraction of the “total” word count.
And even if I decided to replay any given game, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to explore every single path, especially with games being 600k-1M nowadays. So don’t give me the argument that I’m not “fully” utilizing the way it’s meant to be played
I understand inflation and that games getting longer and perhaps better entail prices increasing but is the increase really scaling and reflecting the changes properly? Because I genuinely feel that a 6$ CoG/HG game nowadays is definitely not twice as good as a 3$ counterpart.
Except, well, you’re not.
A single playthrough simply doesn’t come close to exhausting what even the more linear CoGs have to offer. It would be like playing Skyrim without ever accepting a side quest or joining a guild.
There’s no wrong way to play a game, but games can’t be designed for every playstyle. If CoGs only interest you enough for a single playthrough, that’s fine… and you probably shouldn’t be buying one for $7, and I sympathize with your complaint that the games aren’t as short and cheap as they used to be.
That doesn’t mean that CoG is designing or pricing their games wrongly, though. It just means you might not be the target audience, especially for one of the sprawling 600k+ games that are written to be replayed.
Not necessarily. To be fair, games such as Tin Star was just so good that the two times I did play it was more than enough to justify the price for me personally but unfortunately, not every game can really reach that level of immersion.
All I’m saying is that perhaps games should be priced based on words per playthrough or the words that actually changes with the choices and not lengthy world-building or contextual stuffs
I don’t think that makes much sense, either. You see 50/500k in Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, and 50/100k in Heroes Rise, and by your reckoning, they’re equal in value?
I don’t mind the idea of writing being a life-long process in which we hopefully get better over time. That said, what sorts of things would you like to see in a CYOA that you only go through one time?
Zombie Exodus offers more choices, which is arguably the single most important thing about a CYOA
And as I’ve said, that would equate to more since you have more possibilities to work with. I think the part where I said the words associated with choices should be taken into account went way over your head for some reason