Great game, HORRIBLE ordering system

StGabe · #1 February 8th, 2006, 03:44 AM

I just wanted to say that I love the game ...

... and despite that the onerous ordering process was almost enough to prevent me from buying it. Where to start?

* Don't send me directly to the "DVD case" version. I wanted the download version and had to figure out where to get that.
* Tell me that you are sending me to a different page before I hit your link on your main page -- if you absolutely have to link to another page. It would be MUCH better if there was a direct "one click buy" on the main page. That skipped right to giving a credit card for a download of the game.
* The "gamersfront" web store had a horrible UI. It took me almost a minute to find the add to cart button.
* An ISO file? I'd much prefer a zip -- I want instant gratification and I haven't any blank CD's around. At least give me an option for a .zip.

I'm saying this not to whine -- the game is great and I was willing to wade through all of the above to get it. I'm just saying this because if I, who loved the game and like supporting indie games (I'm a professional game programmer myself), almost didn't make it through the order process, then I have to imagine a lot of other people don't.

Do yourselves a favor, find a way to get a more streamlined ordering system. It wasn't clear to me what your relationship to Shrapnel/Gamersfront is but hopefully you can either sell elsewhere or pressure them to improve their interface?

Gabe.

PvK · #2 February 8th, 2006, 04:19 PM

I thought the order process was a bit bumpy too, though for slightly different reasons. I thought I read during the order process somewhere that there _was_ a ZIP option to download, which I too would have preferred. But then I didn't see where I could have specified that choice. Also, I found out to my surprise that the ISO version gave me a download link with a 24-hour time limit to get the file, which I almost didn't make in time.

I muddled through ok, but I can see how some people might be needlessly put off by some aspects of this.

PvK

3 · #3 February 9th, 2006, 04:40 PM

I too recall seeing a reference to a .zip option. However, I think that only applies to certain games. That said, I agree that it would have been preferable to the ISO since the game was so small it almost wasn't worth using a CD.

Phoenix-D · #4 February 9th, 2006, 05:00 PM

You don't have to burn the .iso to use it. Get D-Tools (free); it'll let you mount the iso as a virtual drive.

StGabe · #5 February 9th, 2006, 08:57 PM

That works however it seems unrealistic to expect your average user to figure that out.

It's not a matter of being completely unusable. It's just a matter of being very non-intuitive and likely to piss of / confuse / send away a lot of potential customers. In other words, not good for getting a profit from what is otherwise a very nifty game and funding the next such game.

Gabe.

Annette · #6 February 9th, 2006, 09:26 PM

Please help me understand...you find a workaround to burning the .iso file to a CD...your computer crashes or you upgrade your system and need to reinstall the game. Then what do you expect to happen?

PvK · #7 February 10th, 2006, 05:03 PM

Personally, in theory, I'd expect to use one of my regular backup CD's, where it would be just one of several files on the CD, rather than one program using an entire disk.

Except that I just burnt the iso. I'll probably still back up the iso itself on some backup CD's along with other files, since it's not that big.

PvK