Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?

[Edi]

Originally Posted by Sombre

From my limited experience Krol is pretty fond of insulting customers/potential customers when they express opinions he doesn't like, so you may have that coming in a moment. He also completely missed your point - you say you've been on the fence for a couple of weeks, musing the decision to buy,.. and his response? You could have bought it and had it by now. Classic. But he doesn't in any way shape or form represent the dom3 community, to be clear.

Just to comment on this, I don't see anything insulting in his post as such. He just said he does not get the objections and lays out the reasoning for it, which from where I'm sitting is pretty solid. It's already been established that Dom3 won't be available for digital download, so in that context his position makes perfect sense.

Scott may have insulted some people at some point in time or another, but as far as I can see, he hasn't done so in this thread. Or maybe I don't perceive what the insult supposedly is.

[Sombre]

No he definitely hasn't in this thread. That's not what I was saying.

[llamabeast]

JustAName: While it's possible you might find dealing with Shrapnel frustrating, don't let them put you off Illwinter's game; it's more than worth dealing with a little inconvenience, I promise.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by JustAName

Let me put it to you from a different angle. My gut tells me this game is too expensive, but I was willing to make an impulse purchase of it anyway. That impulse petered out as soon as I got to the order form.

Wow do NOT do that. This is not a game for an impulse buy. Get the demo and convince yourself, or dont buy it. The demo is abit out of date with the main game but its enough to give you the impression of it.

If you do like the demo then the game will most likely be the best money-to-value game purchase you ever make. Ive paid as much for games that lasted me a month. This one tends to last for years. Even the experts at it still argue and have not come up with the "killer strategy" that ruins many other games within their first year.

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Edi

And if you lost a digital copy, how do you arrange for a redownload? Verification of purchase etc, but that goes back into the need for a downloads management system and we're right back in square one.

Tangent: Baen has a really cool system (via Webscriptions.net) that makes universal availability one of the main reasons to buy their ebooks. All your purchases, ever, are tied to your account (email account typically) and you can always log in from any computer and read your books online, or download them in a number of formats including plain HTML (with no DRM) or emailing it your Kindle. No chance of losing them, ever, and no need for storage space. Obviously this universal-availability thing wouldn't work as well for software because it *doesn't* run in a web browser, but Baen Webscriptions is a classy service and if you're into books you should check them out. And there's no DRM. At all.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Wow do NOT do that. This is not a game for an impulse buy. Get the demo and convince yourself, or dont buy it. The demo is abit out of date with the main game but its enough to give you the impression of it.

If you do like the demo then the game will most likely be the best money-to-value game purchase you ever make. Ive paid as much for games that lasted me a month. This one tends to last for years. Even the experts at it still argue and have not come up with the "killer strategy" that ruins many other games within their first year.

Well said, Gandalf.

Total tangent: that thread on "What do you do when you're not dead", plus Baalz's thoughts in the Helheim thread on Black Bow of Botulf + Black Heart, have me wondering which of the other items and spells I've overlooked that have potential for pyrring your conqueror's victory, even moreso than just sending gems to his enemy. Banefire crossbow has potential--I think it's AoE 9 and only 5 death gems.

-Max

[JustAName]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Wow do NOT do that. This is not a game for an impulse buy. Get the demo and convince yourself, or dont buy it. The demo is abit out of date with the main game but its enough to give you the impression of it.

If you do like the demo then the game will most likely be the best money-to-value game purchase you ever make. Ive paid as much for games that lasted me a month. This one tends to last for years. Even the experts at it still argue and have not come up with the "killer strategy" that ruins many other games within their first year.

Actually Gandalf, playing the demo is what PUT me on the fence. I certainly like the game (or I wouldn't be here), but I've never been a fan of multi-player when it came to turn-based strategy games (Alpha Centauri being the sole exception). It seems that the game is tailored more toward MP play, which is fine, but I can't envision taking advantage of that too often, thus lowering the expected value of the game for me. That's why I said that my being on the fence is a case particular to me.

Returning to digital distribution...I imagine that people who see fit to find fault with the established outlets haven't yet taken the time to see how advantageous it can be. EA and Impulse admittedly have a ways to go in terms of customer satisfaction, but Steam is something I think everyone should at least check out before continuing any discussion on the topic. They've found a great balance between DRM security and availability of the software you purchase, whenever and wherever you want it.

Maybe I got spoiled with Steam and expected it here.

[Gandalf Parker]

I think Shrapnel has more of a synergy with StarDock than Steam.

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

I think Shrapnel has more of a synergy with StarDock than Steam.

Honestly, I think it would make tremendous sense if Shrapnel made an agreement with StarDock/Impulse for DD. Just don't move the forums over there, they're even worse. >.>

Also bear in mind, once Impulse is further into development (it's still essentially in Beta2), it will be a redistributable package that can be used for any business, and is supposed to be dirt cheap compared to other DD packages available. Just to bear in mind that they've barely started using it for the general public, and it still has a lot of performance tweaks needed.

[Gandalf Parker]

Im surprised Steam considers itself out of beta. I dont think that the rest of the world does quite yet. The thing about playing your game on any machine still screams for a possible abuse. I wish it well but Im not ready to declare it the "winner" from the company side of things.
IMHO