Yarlen Yarlen

TotalGaming Phase 2 Prelaunch Has Begun!

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TotalGaming Phase 2 Prelaunch Has Begun!

from Stardock Forums
<P>We've begun preparations for the launch of the next phase of TotalGaming.net (what we've been referring to as Phase 2). </P> <P><STRONG>Why Phase 2?</STRONG></P> <P>Phase 1 worked on a fairly straight forward premise: For $X users could get all the games added to it for one year. At the end of the year, the user had to re-subscribe to keep getting new games.&nbsp; The problem was that game developers didn't want to share royalties with games they didn't think people wanted.&nbsp; If ALL the games were available, then the royalties had to be split amongst ALL games.&nbsp; While this wasn't an issue as long as the games were primarily Stardock titles, it made it hard to start getting higher profile or newer content.</P> <P>That's where Phase 2 comes in.&nbsp; Gamers can purchase games individually or they'll be able to purchase a TotalGaming.net membership which will provide 10 tokens.&nbsp; Different games will cost differing amounts (A $19.95 game would cost 2 tokens, a $39.95 game would cost 4 tokens, a $9.95 game would cost 1 token and so forth).&nbsp; Gamers then can pick and choose which games they want.&nbsp; </P> <P>The end result is a much larger variety to choose from than what would have previously been possible under the phase 1 system.&nbsp; Members will also be given early peeks at some of the games under development such as <STRONG><A href="http://www.societygame.com/">Society</A>.</STRONG></P> <P><STRONG>What it means for existing TotalGaming.net users:</STRONG></P> <P>The ones who benefit from the new system the most is of course the existing TotalGaming.net subscribers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Not only will they get the 9 existing games on TotalGaming.net but they will also get <A href="https://www.galciv2.com"><STRONG>Galactic Civilizations II</STRONG>&nbsp;</A>no matter when it is released -- so no need to re-subscribe.&nbsp; On top of that, TG.net users will get 10 tokens to use on existing games.&nbsp; Most of the new games will cost between 1 and 3 tokens so this effectively means an additional 4 to 6 new games.</P> <P><STRONG>Launch Date:&nbsp; </STRONG>Around June 21st we hope to begin migrating existing players to the new system. A week after that we hope to a general launch. Stay tuned!</P>
12,242 views 76 replies
Reply #51 from Stardock Forums Top
WillGamer,

I just logged into SDC under your account and everything is working correctly.  Have you allowed Stardock Central to auto-update itself to the latest version (you should see Token information in the Games area).  When you click on one of the older games that you haven't installed (BaseGolf, Celtic Kings, Corporate Machine, Disciples II, GalCiv, GalCiv: AP, GalCiv II Beta, LightWeight Ninja, Nexagon, O-R-B, Political Machine, Robin Hood, Uplink or World War II: Frontline Command) from the list, does it say Install or Download? 

Reply #52 from Stardock Forums Top
Yarlen
Very good points. The problem with my point of view is that I am not unhappy with TG in fact quite the opposite is true . My main concern is that I am just not warm and fuzzy about recomending it to others That is what I am trying to reconcile. (I told you that it might not make sense)
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #53 from Stardock Forums Top
oops I got too impatient and hit submit twice again. Oh BTW SDC locked up last night trying to update GC2 from the dialog box. I was able to start SDC up again and update GC2 from the games
Reply #54 from Stardock Forums Top

Ah, I see.   Well, give it some time and then reconsider how you view it.  I think that for a new member, it's a slam dunk if we've got games you're interested in.

On SDC, if it crashes like that again, let us know. There may have been some wacky stuff going on with the server last night that caused the crash.

Cheers.

Reply #55 from Stardock Forums Top
does it say Install or Download?


Each button, for all not d/l'd games, says Download.

Each Download button is linked to the appropriate purchase page.

Stardock version: 2.09c.342 build: 94


Edit: Found the problem... I clicked View/Show Hide Applications/Reset. The old games now correctly show Install.
Reply #56 from Stardock Forums Top
Okay, great.   I believe that has been tweaked in the internal build of Stardock Central so that it won't happen in the future.
Reply #57 from Stardock Forums Top
I've been critical in the past of what was happening with TG but for an existing subscriber this is a pretty sweet deal.

On the downside you've taken a very simple clean concept and confused the heck out of it for new subscribers.

Originally I paid a sub and bought a guaranteed number of games with the "promise" of more games to come with no further outlay. Now I have tokens, or Disney Dollars if you will, but unless I've read this wrong new subscribers don't get the existing games that old subscribers did. They may only purchase games to the value of their tokens. I can see why and it makes business sense but essentially you're turning yourself into an old fashioned publisher for your own and other niche low budget games coupled to a STEAM-esque delivery method. It's just nobody at Valve suggested turning your dollars into fun money before buying Half Life 2. See the parallels? I buy a silver Steam package and get 7 or 8 games. They even cost about the same. Heck, there's even extra free games released by way of mods (if you haven't yet, take a look at Eclipse - a 3rd person fantasy mod for HL2 that I thought was pretty cute. It's short for a 200Mb+ download though.)

You'd be better off just offering people that $10 value for $7 dollar pricing just for signing up as a friend of Total Gaming and forget the subscription - which nobody in their right mind is going to regard as a sub, it's a straight swap of dollars into monopoly money. If 1 token = $7 and eg Robin Hood is being priced at 1 token as a $10 value, it's already out of whack with the real world. Encourage people to sign up for Stardock with a perceived value due to the discount recieved as a "Friend of TG" and you have them locked into a direct marketing vehicle, which is what you wanted anyway.

If you're still offering your old games free as an incentive for new subscribers then it's a different matter and still a good deal, I guess.
Reply #58 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Frightlever,

Actually, I don't see the parallels. STEAM forces you to be online to play games, forces you to unlock your games even if you buy them on CD first, forces you to activate every time you play, and charges you full price for everything, plus tacks on strict DRM for good measure. Stardock Central doesn't make you be online to play, doesn't force you to unlock your games after they're installed, doesn't force you to activate each time you play, allows you to backup your games (and even burn them to a CD), and doesn't use DRM.

That Silver STEAM package only comes with Valve's games, several of which have been out for years (and are mods).  It also doesn't give you access to any new games in the future, as TotalGaming does (though you have to pay for them, of course). The TGN system provides everyone with much greater flexibility - both developers, publishers and members.

Reply #59 from Stardock Forums Top
Problem: When I click purchase (using my tokens), I get the following error:

"*** The page you have requested has experienced and error and cannot be processed due to the following error:
Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. "

please help
Reply #60 from Stardock Forums Top
FrightLevel, most arcades I've ever been to have tokens.  The idea is to offer those who are willing to put out $70 to get a discount.  You can buy games individually still (i.e use quarters or tokens to play the games).
Reply #61 from Stardock Forums Top
Problem: When I click purchase (using my tokens), I get the following error:

"*** The page you have requested has experienced and error and cannot be processed due to the following error:
Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. "

please help


Hello Samuel,

I am unable to reproduce this error. If you are still getting this error can you please email me (pford@stardock.com) with the exact steps you are doing so that I may try to reproduce this error. Also let me know if you are using Stardock Central or if you are browsing the site with IE or another browser when the error occurs.
Reply #62 from Stardock Forums Top

Problem: When I click purchase (using my tokens), I get the following error:

"*** The page you have requested has experienced and error and cannot be processed due to the following error:
Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. "

Sounds like the database was unhappy when you did this.    It appears to be working again now, so please let us know if you run into any more trouble.  When this occurs, it's usually only a short term thing, but if we can catch it while it's happening, we can more easily track down why.

Reply #63 from Stardock Forums Top
FrightLevel, most arcades I've ever been to have tokens. The idea is to offer those who are willing to put out $70 to get a discount.


I was off with the STEAM comparison but longterm my idea's better. You'll see.

Arcade? Ye gods...
Reply #64 from Stardock Forums Top
Almost everything seems normal on my end - two years added to subscription, older games can be installed, but I'm showing 0 tokens available. Shouldn't I have 10 free ones or did I miss something?
Reply #65 from Stardock Forums Top
Mr. Spook, here's an example of why the new system benefits you:

You originally purchased Galactic Civilizations I at retail. You then upgraded to TotalGaming.net for $39.95 this past November. You then got access to EIGHT new games. On top of that, you're going to get Galactic Civilizations II even though it will be coming out in February of 2006 -- after your subscription would have expired. On top of that, you'll get 10 tokens to use on other games we're adding which will effectively mean 4 to 6 more games you'll be getting for free.

So for $39.95 you will get roughly 13 games. That's about $3 per game PLUS Galactic Civilizations II for free.




Same deal here. Now if we had brought all the games individually...


Yet another underrated piece of stardockian greatness.
Reply #66 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi donarumo,

Your Tokens were placed on your chaossoftware.com Stardock.net account (where your original TG.net subscription is), which is why you show 0 Tokens using your current login. If you'd like us to move your Tokens to your current account, just email me (bclair@stardock.com).

Reply #67 from Stardock Forums Top

I am hopeful that this new arangment gives TGN some much needed content, and the ability to attract some a list titles. Much of what was here for 2003-04 was dated and rates pretty poorly against the competition. In the past this wasnt an issue because you got everything for one low price. Now that they are going to actually charge for each title, the expetation are going to be MUCH higher from subscribers.

The great part is that we have a place for independant content where GAMEPLAY can reign supreme, but I too hope we get new content and not reheated games from other sites.
Reply #68 from Stardock Forums Top
I am hopeful that this new arangment gives TGN some much needed content


I'd be happy if the forums weren't so dead.

So for $39.95 you will get roughly 13 games. That's about $3 per game PLUS Galactic Civilizations II for free.


Which is fine, but it's not such a good deal for new subscribers is it? You get ZERO free games. If you would even just throw in some of your own old games it would make me more likely to recommend this deal to someone.
Reply #69 from Stardock Forums Top
It's a very good deal for new subscribers, as we've already discussed in several previous posts. For $69.95 someone could get as much as $110 worth of games. That's hardly a bad deal.
Reply #70 from Stardock Forums Top
I can't totally agree, Yarlen. A new subscriber is going to look at the prices of games offered through TG.net, look online for the cheapest price on the retail games... Realize that they can get it cheaper online, then stop thinking of TG.net as any kind of "deal" except for stardock products as soon as they are released, and indie games.

For example:
TG.net
Galciv: $39.95 or 4 tokens ($28)
Galciv AP: $19.95 or 2 tokens ($14)

Gogamer.com
Galciv: $17.90
Galciv AP: $17.90
Galciv Deluxe: $24.90
Shipping: $5.99 for up to 3 games (FedEx 2Day)
Shipping: $1.99 for up to 2 games (US Mail)

With deals like this, many individuals would probably look elsewhere for their games, without even taking time to consider the advantages offered by Stardock (no cd required, re-download at any time, etc.)
Reply #71 from Stardock Forums Top

The extras that you get with TotalGaming - no DRM, the ability to access your software forever, use it on multiple PCs, etc. does cost us money. We can't really compete against the prices of an online or retail vendor who is selling older software at cost - or even a loss (as GoGamer will sometimes do) - just to get it out of inventory since simply holding onto product costs them money.

I would also add that TotalGaming.net provides first-level support for the games we sell. If you were to buy GalCiv from GoGamer.com and had a problem, you'd have to talk to Strategy First for tech support since they're the publisher. If you bought GalCiv from Stardock or TotalGaming.net, we would handle any support issues you might have.

Reply #72 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm a subscriber, and I do see the benefits that you are mentioning, Yarlen. I was merely stating that it might be difficult to hook a new subscriber, as they won't really appreciate these benefits until they've been with Stardock for a few months. You've got the old subscribers convinced... It's just a matter of figuring out how best to attract new subscribers. Many companies talk about their outstanding support for their products. Few actually follow through. How do you plan to prove to a potential customer that Stardock will be one of those that does follow through, as they will never really know until they buy.
Reply #73 from Stardock Forums Top
Double post... sorry.
Reply #74 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Vinco,

TotalGaming isn't a subscription service anymore, it's more of a membership (we're trying to make that a clear distinction with new customers).   It's an interesting question you pose about proving that we do support our products. I think that if someone were to check out our support forums for previous posts or ask other members, they could easily see that we do follow through on things.  Stardock itself has a well known history of supporting its software/services that I see our customers mention quite frequently online.

Reply #75 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, in that case, I'm a member, then. I just hope that you guys are still able to attract new members under the new system.

One more thing... looking that the TG.net developer page, it still mentions that the developer will get royalties off of the network as a whole... Is that a holdover from the old network, or does it still apply?