No discount?

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

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Munchkin9
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Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:29 pm

No discount?

Post by Munchkin9 »

Even though I've searched and I've run across the same answer every where it just makes so little sense to me that I have to ask here: Is it truly not possible anymore to get the discount on Universe for owning other Distant Worlds games?

I really want to enjoy the latest additions but why should I pay fully price for content I already own? I have to say that if there isn't (and wont ever be) a way of reducing that price for owning (3) other Distant World games then I will not be buying Universe, sad as that makes me.

In addition to this it would be very convenient to have my games on Steam but the only one available on Steam is Universe, so once again I feel like I am getting shafted.

Any info or news?

Thank you.
Bingeling
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:42 am

RE: No discount?

Post by Bingeling »

From memory:

1: There was a limited time offer to get price reduction. It expired.

2: There was noise on this forum.

3: Erik acknowledged that it was a bad idea to have the offer time limited, but that it would be another error to undo this decision as several people had already bought universe even if having previous pieces.

So you are out of luck [:(]
feygan
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:41 am

RE: No discount?

Post by feygan »

Welcome to the idea that is Matrix Games's rinse you dry policy.
Whitemanematrix
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Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:43 am

RE: No discount?

Post by Whitemanematrix »

Heh funny enough I'm in the same boat got the urge to fire it back up this weekend. So yeah that's it for me, matrix etc. has over $100 from me and they want another $100 for a single expansion? Riiiight its a good game but nowhere that good. THe rationle seems a bit off. How about next you folks use the same pricing schema as pretty much every other company out there? ( ie you already own expansion X the next piece is Y ).

I don't mind paying extra for niche/good titles like war in the X etc. but this is a little absurd.

So what happens for the next expansion if there is one. It stays the same I wont buy that either.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: No discount?

Post by Erik Rutins »

This may help - I'm sorry the upgrade is no longer available:

tm.asp?m=3834396
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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mordachai
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RE: No discount?

Post by mordachai »

It's $42 USD with the discount.
feygan
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RE: No discount?

Post by feygan »

ORIGINAL: mordachai

It's $42 USD with the discount.
That is the going rate for a shafting so it sounds about right.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: No discount?

Post by Erik Rutins »

ORIGINAL: feygan
That is the going rate for a shafting so it sounds about right.

It's easy to snipe. While I agree in hindsight we should not have had an upgrade that expired, the goal was certainly not to "shaft" anyone and I don't think that's a fair characterization of what we did.

We let the upgrade offer run for _months_ and we mailed every single previous Distant Worlds owner regarding the upgrade offer, as well as posting it on our site, product page and forums. I regret that it expired and that we didn't realize that a significant number of customers had missed it before it had already expired for a while. The difficulty now is that a lot of folks have purchased without the upgrade and months accounting and payments have already been based on those purchases, so we cannot go back and offer a new upgrade without then "shafting" those customers who purchased in the interim and causing an accounting nightmare internally.

Universe is also not "the same product". It has over a year of additional development in it since Shadows, with some very major improvements across the board, not just in moddability.

Sales like that over Easter are the best opportunity for customers who missed the upgrade offer to pick up Universe if they have not already and I posted here regarding this offer in good faith.

On a side note, we are about to release another update (the final one) for Shadows which will also help customers who have not yet upgraded. We are also about to release another update with a bug fix for the German release of ROTS.

Regards,

- Erik
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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MatBailie
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RE: No discount?

Post by MatBailie »

I agree that it is easy (and not at all constructive) to snipe.

I do, however, believe that it is born out of the fact the given explanation ("we cannot go back and offer a new upgrade without then "shafting" those customers who purchased in the interim") doesn't ring true with the evidence of life.

- Products routinely lower in price to the customer, games especially
- Customers rarely expect, and even more rarely ever receive, a refund due to a subsequent price drop

What makes the dis-connect, between the given explanation and actual experience, even more stark is:
- You are at this very time offering a 30% discount
- You won't be giving past purchasers a retrospective 30% refund
- The discount is time bound
- Yet you will most very likely give other discounts in the future, after this one expires
- And all of this applies to "Distant Worlds: Universe", even though you "can't" offer a discount on that product to RoTS owners


At the end of the day I don't actually believe RoTS owners are entitled to a discount. That's commerce; a product was offered at a price, and it was purchased, a subsequent product was offered at a price and it is still the customer's choice to purchase or not.

And yet, it does seem to make commercial sense to me that an Upgrade price be lower than an New Purchase price.

Most of all, however, the explanation for not doing so seems weak and contradictory to your own actions, so I can not blame people for being dis-gruntled and vocally so.


Last note; thanks for all the patches, I hope for and look forward to any Pirates based patches. Or maybe a Sequel!?


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Spidey
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RE: No discount?

Post by Spidey »

Well, it would put Matrix in an awkward position relative to those people who did buy both the previous expansions and Universe at full price if they suddenly caved to the negativity and let people buy it on the cheap now. It wasn't the best decision to make it a time limited discount but it was a decision, it was made, and undoing it just pushes the turd onto someone else. I agree that a flat hundred is a bit heavy when you've already paid as much for the base game and previous expansions, but that's just how it is.

However, if there's a periodic discount on Universe anyway, I don't see why it couldn't also be expanded to include an additional loyalty discount for those who already own previous games. There's no retroactive change of terms, it's still limited time, and it's very comparable with holding out for a new game until you can find it in the bargain bin. Some people will find a way to be negative, they always do, but I can't see the vast majority of existing customers being upset by it.
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