@FairyGodfeather But coffee arguments are the best arguments ever. People will say they want plain coffee, decaf coffee, latte, espresso, cappuccino, and etc. The price is going to depend on what coffee you’re going to want, but if its tea well there are different teas as well and price differs to what tea you like. White, green, oolong, black, herbal, rooibos (red tea if you’re not familiar.), mate (coffee mixed with tea), and tea blends (mix teas).
Not saying that you have to cut back on something you’re already familiar with, but think of the variety that it represents. Not all CoG or Hosted games should have the same price. Tin star is the longest as they say and I really won’t mind it having a $5 tag, but if the other titles have the same price and it’s shorter than that. That’s not fair. Also some of the games have artworks or music implemented on them so I think that can have a boost on price.
I think how people view the price will depend on how much they would consider it as an entertainment (For them). I think a 3$ for an ebook is too much (It also sometimes depends on the format of the ebook), but for a paperback or hardback book its fine.
Anyone down here would no iTunes here in New Zealand doesn’t help, Tin Star $6.99 then iTunes charges transaction fees on top of that, so I end up paying around $9.20. So I understand the issue of price but what you get imo is still amazing value. Being a fan for years, So I have noticed the increase, but so has everything else, food 30% just this year alone, power increased up to 37%, use to pay $50 for a ps game, now there around $100-$140. So talking about a $1 increase to read a quality story, I’m still a happy man, especially the amount of work involved. If im not sure about the game I read the forums, see what people are saying, when time allows help beta test. If you think it’s your type of game and am happy, then buy
@TechDragon610 And what’s worse is when you spend years collecting the books, and you have a huge pile of them, only for the company to release a Revised version, so you collect those and then they decide to reboot the whole world and start again, and so you buy those books, and by now you (and by you I mean me) have two humungous boxes of what must be hundreds of these books, and they’re planning on releasing a new edition.
Lots, and lots of blood, sweat and tears. Each of those books costing £10, £20 each. Oh the pain! And now all worthless!
What I love most about living in the future, as we do, is that all those books can fit on a tablet now. An entire collection of RPG books on a device smaller than a single one of those books. It’s amazing. And it can roll dice too.
Not that I tabletop anymore anyway, but the future’s amazing.
@Aera Tap water is the way to go. People really mix tea and coffee together? That seems like a hellish concoction! YUCK!
I agree, not all games should be priced the same. I think the $1-$5 price tag is reasonable. I pay it. I grumble about Steam charging me an extra 21p a game, not about the initial prices that Choice of Games set for the games, since I don’t mind paying to support a company that makes games I love with ideals I want to support.
@Dreamwalker Ouch! That is expensive. Wait New Zealand dollars are different from American ones? That’s still ridiculously expensive though. I’m glad I don’t live there. Maybe I’ll stop complaining about the extra charge of Steam, or 20% VAT, or the currency convertion fees if I buy elsewhere. (Although probably not.)
And you are right about everything else increasing in price too. That’s a really valid point.
When I look at all the code of ZE that supports features and not actual playable text, I feel it’s unfair to boast 800,000 words of code. People trade money for enjoyment, and I think $3 for 50,000 words of gameplay (not code) is fair.
@FairyGodfeather
Yeah it’s not cheap here that for sure lol and unfortunately the wages don’t match living costs, but you don’t live here to get rich
Umm… Think it’s about 75centsUS to our dollar atm… Normally sits around 82cents
@Hell_Satan Then the other conclusion is that the ebook has more people involved in it. Probably why the price is in a halleluiah mode.
@FairyGodfeather Unfortunately tap water from where I am is very dangerous to drink. Eww. Yes, they call them mate teas. Coffee beans are mixed into tea leaves. It taste weird and not really yummy, more like yucky. I also curse steam, but in support for CoG I still buy it even if I prefer the google play and appstore.
@ballmot
It’s more than just writing and research. Some of us are trying to make ends meet based on what we write. As a writer of fiction, I’d love to give away everything I’ve written for free.
However, last year, I wrote somewhere around 400k words of publishable prose. Personally, I’d like to think that those words and the way which they’re all strung together are of somewhat greater-than-execrable quality. Even so, in total, I made less in 2014 than someone who works full-time minimum wage (though granted, British Columbia’s minimum wage is comparatively generous). As another semi-starving university student living in what may be one of the most expensive cities on the planet, I have to welcome every development that leads to me getting more royalties, price-increases included, because otherwise, I’m not trying to make ends meet, I’m failing to make ends meet.
@FairyGodfeather
Have you considered buying tea bags in bulk (110 bags for $8 cdn here)? Or is there some sort of pan-Commonwealth law about buying supermarket tea that I’ve been in flagrant violation of for the past ten years?
Not really. Mecha Ace and The Hero of Kendrickstone are separate continuities. I’d totally be in favour of bundling Kendrickstone and its sequels when they eventually come out though.
Yeah, I think you guys are right at the end of the day. A lot of work gets put into these games and despite the price increases - they’re worth it. @FairyGodfeather you’re right, it’s not really fair to compare CoG to EA. I suppose Choice of Games has really grown from the beginning days where they only had a handful of games on their website, so (in turn) it’s only logical they need to make more money to support this expansion.
I just hope it doesn’t get too crazy. I love CoG and a part of me wants to keep it sort of niche and backwater. Like a “my little secret” type thing. But inevitably it’s changing and growing. Hopefully this means, despite the increase in prices, the quality and length of games also rises along with it.
There aren’t any printing costs and such with CoG’s titles, but books, even ebooks, can run as high as £4 - £6. I think I’ve even seen new releases, from the likes of George R.R Martin and Stephen King, going for £10 on Kindle? I could be wrong, but I think so. (Which is, admittedly, too high in my view)
So, I have no problem paying the money for people’s work as long as it doesn’t get extravagantly expensive and the work is worth it. (I.e. has had a lot of effort put into it when it comes to being a polished product)
And yes, I am a typical starving artist. So, I don’t have much money. If the price starts going up to £5 - £10, then I’d maybe consider saying something, but that’s only because I believe ebooks should be cheaper than print with there being no printing cost. Afterall, with the exception of coding, we are essentially writing/purchasing ebooks, albeit non-linear ones due to the choices. And the word count, even if it doesn’t seem like it due to the nature of the beast, can be a fair bit higher than a traditional book. (I’m referring to buying a 250,000 word CoG here, yet only seeing 50,000 - 80,000 words.) Also, they can be quite complicated to write. Not only do you have to code, but you also have to write a ‘good, non-linear’ story. Even a good ‘linear’ story is hard enough to write.
So, yes. As long as the quality’s good, I see no problem with these being sold at ebook prices. It’ll mean I’m probably not able to purchase as many, but that’s my problem and I wouldn’t complain just because I can’t afford it as artists deserve to be paid. It’s similar those people expecting things to be free (because they probably can’t afford what they want to buy).
Honestly, I am fine paying up to £7 for a good, COG game, mainly because COG games have been consistently good and reliable. But it is getting a bit more expensive, but then again, you need to pay the piper
I actually think the prices are based on how long the title is and or how well it is expected to sell. Like there’s a reason Tin Star is $5 (because it’s so massive) and Path of Light is $1 (because it’s considerably shorter.) Similarly, there is a reason that Fatehaven (115k long and priced at $3) and Choice of Robots (300k long and priced at $5) were priced higher than other works that were around the same length as them. This because they were expected to, and did, in fact, sell very well.
Oh my glob… I WOULD LOVE TO PAY FOR A $10 MOVIE AND COMICS FOR ONLY $3-4… Movie tickets here where I live cost around $20, just for a 2D film ticket. $25 for a 3D movie… and that’s not including any pop corn or drinks. A 200ml bottle of water from the shops is $2. For that same bottle of water, it’s $4 from a shop serving hot foods. Online, I get charged around $5 for a short comic and have paid nearly $10 for a childrens comic. That’s not including any charges the bank will make for “transactions”. don’t even get me started on utility bills, rent and petrol.
Typically a CoG released here is nearly $4 on google. (Newer titles). I’m only really using that one store for ease. It just means I can only buy one title every once in a while. Other gamebooks of the text kind are nearly $8.
The comparisons don’t work here. For example, the coffee argument (which drives me crazy) is downright silly. A $3 cup of coffee provides utility to one person. A CoG provides utility to many. The cost structures are completely different. The variable costs associated with a cup of coffee rise and fall depending on the volatility of the inputs. The variable costs hardly fluctuate, if at all, in relation to a CoG (though this is an assumption, I think royalty costs remain a fixed percentage). Then we have other variables like addiction, delivery medium of products, reach, and about a dozen other economic factors. A very important variable that is extremely different between coffee and interactive fiction is competition.
Tldr; don’t compare interactive fiction to anything else but interactive fiction. Coca Cola stock is only compared to Apple stock by “dumb” money.
I think CoG raising prices is what they should do. They have built up a great brand in the interactive fiction world. The closest thing to what CoG has built is completely inferior, in my opinion. They have the luxury of playing with prices because there is no major competition in the interactive fiction industry.
Also, CoG’s business model puts them at a serious advantage. Competitors are not releasing nearly as many quality apps as CoG because the competitors are behind in terms of the way their business works. Seriously, CoG is not only attracting great talent for free by starting up their hosted games label but making money off that talent before they join the official label. Pure genius. That e-mail list too though. That could be one of the smartest things they did. It gives them easy access to their target market and more sales. Why any hosted game chooses to release without being released with an official game is beyond me. That e-mail list probably skyrockets their sales regardless of price.
Ever since I started coming here, I assumed it was only a matter of time before they grew to a point where they felt comfortable raising their prices.
Eww. Yes, they call them mate teas. Coffee beans are mixed into tea leaves. It taste weird and not really yummy, more like yucky. I also curse steam, but in support for CoG I still buy it even if I prefer the google play and appstore. 
don’t even get me started on utility bills, rent and petrol.