Why M&B will probably not sell as well as you think.

[Zendarian]

What would having two accounts achieve?

 

[Maelstorm]

edit: To people who -seriously- ask for arcade elements: Go play Emo-may-cry or something. You are in the wrong league.

I didn't ask for them, I merley suggested them as a means of achieveing better sales.

I was pulling your leg. Seriously, arcane stuff would kill the spirit of the game and if armagan was after money and not making the game he wants, he would have sold it to EA long ago

 

[Mkilbride]

Nice. Magic? LOL, this is a non-fantasy game and I like it that way.


No area of effect attacks? I understand that, while it is cool, it's pretty unrealistic, as no soldier really ever did this(At least, the common soldier didn't)


I think it will be a HUGE success. It's highly ranked on GameSpot, a site that is no pushover, and many other famous sites have been offering high praised reviews.


Graphics are good, not great, but I'm a Graphics whore usually, and even *I* find them to be very acceptable, especially with the GE 2.0 Projects.


All the mods make it really fun.

It's meant to be an open ended game with no real personal story... I find that better than having a generic cliche story, that you're bored of in the first ten minutes.


M&B was made by the people, for the people, and for the fun of the people(I say this because most game developing studios these days have people who work at inhuman paces and whatnot, so to see a small Indie company do so well and get so much coverage makes me happy, and believe that there is hope for the PC gaming community)


They listen to their players...the only other company to do this is Blizzard(Except their WoW department, which sucks)and Blizzard started off small and released many hit titles and is now a Gaming Company God. I'm not saying Taleworlds will do this, but I'm sure they'll be able to live Upper Middle Class to just Upper Class easily.(And without much worry!) from the sales of this game.


They've done an amazing thing for an Indie company. They're producing High Quality work, affordable prices, and a fun game, and people have the nerve to point out every single tiny flaw, but these so called "Flaws" are what makes the game great.


OK, they should of given it Crysis level Graphics, then you could have what...10 guys on the screen at once? ARe you kidding me, I dun care HOW good yer systems are alright, no way could any system handle 200-300 soldiers + Horses + Scenery of Crysis level graphics and STILL have an enjoyable rate.

I respect the Developers of this for listening to the community and making it such a fun game, and they allow modding! Which is great. This game is so much more fun than Oblivion was / is, even without mods...sure Oblivion can be fun with mods, but the fact it RELIES on mods is rather sad. M&B has a good core game, but amazing mods that will futher propel the game. This game will use the Half-Life theory, make a game that's fun to play, easy to mod, and it'll survive for years!(Look at all the games now that release SDK's, they never used to, if so, very rarely, but after seeing how a 1998 FPS still has 60,000 + people playing it due to a modding community, it became obvious what to do)

No Multiplayer...honestly, guys, imagine this game in MP? Wouldn't it just be awful? I mean, I want MP too, but they'd have to re-design entire aspects of the game to do it, and I don't mean a switch here and there, but an entirely different game. This is built for those who enjoy Medieval Simulation.

 

[Remitter]

I do not see what all this guff was about.

The OP seems like some doomsayer, carrying on about the developers starving, or some such rubbish. I imagine that mount and blade has sold many more units than, for example, Avernum, which is a 2d indy Role playing game. Yet the developer that created Avernum, Spiderweb software, is making a comfortable return on their efforts.

Totally simplified, Mount and Blade has not cost a whole tonne of money to make, so it has much less to make up for. I am sure that the profits will be tidy for the expenses concurred.

 

[Thorgils]

most successful troll thread...ever.

Its a great game with a pretty damn good following considering its beginnings.... and that's all that matters.

 

[Caladrian]

Admins do love me, I think. Anyway, death threats? where? That'd be "I'll kill you!!!!". I simply expressed a wish. That you die. Because I don't agree with you.

I wasn't being serious, it was a rubbish attempt at a joke. I do think you overreacted in your response.

This wasn't meant as a troll thread. Some members seemed to think M&B would sell really well and that there would be an influx of members when the game went retail.

 

[Dragonfly]

I use GE2, HDR, and Light Mipmap, so for me it looks gorgeous. I being an modern FPS fan (No I'm not a chatspeaker, no CSS, and don't foam at the mouth) Was skeptical when I saw the graphics but thought that the gameplay looked good, so I tried it, and got hooked, and then found the mods. If frodogorn where replaced by highelf's cover then the game would get a lot more looks and cases like my own.

 

[Mkilbride]

If even say, 20,000 units of this game sell, which they may of already, that's amazing for an indie game.


300k downloads on that one site, say if even a SMALL portion of them actually BUY it, then they've already made their quota I assume. People are over-shooting sales figures...most games don't sell 100k+

If this game reaches the 50k mark, it can be considered very well sold.

Although 50k is abit if a farshoot, who knows, this game is doing very well as is.


Like said, a small 300MB ~ or so game fully installed, has more than most 4GB + games have...that's amazing. I'm not saying this game will be the best selling ever, or even break any records lol, but it will NOT FAIL. I just joined a few weeks ago, but I'm addicted to it so much, and games like Mass Effect had my addicted for 3-4 days, and then I beat it and it was so boring.

This game is cheap, low system requirements, addictive, and unique = Good things to have for a game, and it shows it'll sell well, or at least reach a "Cult Classic" level.

 

[M@ster-$]

4. The graphics. The truth is there are a lot more graphics heads out there than there are M&B fans with weak PCs (ie M&B fans), who are being turned off the game. The community needs to make a trailer showcasing the community's work to improve the graphics.
5. The animations, seeing the same four repetitive animations during the trailer has put a lot of the GameTrailers crowd off.

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/782/782487/imgs_1.html

http://gamecorner.pl/gamecorner/51,86580,5454336.html?i=0

Some of the pics:

 

[Mama Sumae]

We can only expect things to get better in 1.0 graphics wise, but i dont think graphics is the problem to begin with. To me its the lack of object varity in the battle grounds that makes it so visually boring.


Still this a game not a movie so give me a mace, some skulls and nice red wine and i will more than happy to spread some of my lordship arround.       


I wanna play it not watch it. 

 

[Sephran]

Ooh, new interface

 

[Merlkir]

Anyone going to Leipzig for the Games Convention? IGN says that Paradox will have some booths there and Mount and Blade should be shown.

 

[HardCode]

Many forumites seem to be expecting that Mount & Blade will get a lot of media coverage and sell really well. It probably won't, for several reasons.

1. It's a PC exclusive, and the PC retail market is dying, as shelf space gets turned over to Nintendo

PC games are dying because PC games developers produce brain dead products. Looks like Taleworlds is aiming to change that.

2. Where are the glowing previews? Not in any notable print magazines, so we can presume there will be no 'fixed' reviews, which always help sell the game.
3. Where is the advertising, hand's up who's seen a promotional poster in a magazine or a banner on a website.

"Glowing previews" are paid-for advertising. The developer/publisher pays so called game journalism sites advertising dollars, and it comes complete with a high-rated review.

4. The graphics. The truth is there are a lot more graphics heads out there than there are M&B fans with weak PCs (ie M&B fans), who are being turned off the game. The community needs to make a trailer showcasing the community's work to improve the graphics.
5. The animations, seeing the same four repetitive animations during the trailer has put a lot of the GameTrailers crowd off.

See my response to point #1 about "brain dead products".

6. The lack of a story. Narrative is increasingly important in modern games, and Mount & Blade lacks one. I know for many people the appeal comes from making your own story, but many people on gametrailers (ie the general gaming market where the money is)  are asking "What's the point?"

M&B isn't designed for a story. Look at Sid Meier's Pirates! There is no true story - you make your own. M&B is the same type of game.

7. In the age of casual gaming, accesiblity is more important than ever. Mount & Blade just dumps you in the middle of nowhere right next to some high-level bandits. This could be fixed by bringing back Zendar.

The Age of Casual Gaming is a problem and needs to be fixed. Games need to be challenging and not cater to the ADHD market, which is unfortunately growing (also produces "brain dead products").

8. The lack of online multiplayer. With multiplayer argurably more important than singleplayer, Ikisoft have wisely ommited any kind of multiplayer features.
This could be fixed by adding arena fights in multiplayer.

Just to let you know, most people play games off-line. Multiplayer is a small part of the gaming industry if you consider ALL games. If M&B was an FPS, this would be an issue. It's not an FPS, so it's not an issue. I don't want multiplayer because it would not be M&B.

9. The publisher. Paradox Interactive is not a household name, it is not even a name in its own household.

Does anyone really care who publishes a game? Unless there is a specific reason, such as I care if EA publishes a game because I've boycotted them for life. The majority of the people have no clue about the publisher. It's irrelevant.

So please forumites, lower your expectations, Mount & Blade is not an AAA game and I doubt it will become much more popular than it is today. Here's hoping that M&B 2 gets picked up by a better publisher and gets some money thrown at it.

And no one would ever need more tha 64KB of RAM

 

[RayvenQ]

I kinda hope Valve gets to publish the game on Steam (I know some people may not like it but) If they do, it's a whole new avenue of sales for Taleworlds and something of a large audience too.

 

[Handel]

OMG! A fanboy of Nintendo! Didn't expect to find something so funny

 

[HTAPAWASO]

I think M&B will develop a sizeable niche simply because it differs greatly from most other games of the genre.

I refer to the mounted combat, complete lack of fantasy and "combo" mumbo-jumbo, of course.


This makes Paradox a VERY GOOD publisher for the game.
I've only played a few of their games, but they were all excellent, realistic, and easily moddable.

Thus, the kind of people who DO know who Paradox is are likely to enjoy this game, since it's in a similar vein.


I found this game about 9 months ago.
I was looking over the total war forum, followed a link to a Paradox thread (EUIII) where they mentioned M&B, and it got me hooked on both games



Btw, am I the only one who likes M&B graphics?
I rarely pay much attention to the visual side of things, much more interested in game play, but it never really occurred to me that M&B's graphics sucked... which several people here seem to be suggesting.

 

[War_B*stard]

I don't think it's wrong to have high hopes for M&B 1.0. For a start it looks like it should be quite a considerable update. Secondly, and most importantly to my mind, 1.0 should allow the modding community to really get to work. Most of my expectations rest on the shoulders of the modders (no pressure guys!).

Anyone going to Leipzig for the Games Convention? IGN says that Paradox will have some booths there and Mount and Blade should be shown.

I'm sure (read: hope) there'll be previews on the internet in the days following the event. Just a case of keeping your ear to the ground I guess.

 

[X-Warrior-X]

Many forumites seem to be expecting that Mount & Blade will get a lot of media coverage and sell really well. It probably won't, for several reasons.

1. It's a PC exclusive, and the PC retail market is dying, as shelf space gets turned over to Nintendo
2. Where are the glowing previews? Not in any notable print magazines, so we can presume there will be no 'fixed' reviews, which always help sell the game.
3. Where is the advertising, hand's up who's seen a promotional poster in a magazine or a banner on a website.
4. The graphics. The truth is there are a lot more graphics heads out there than there are M&B fans with weak PCs (ie M&B fans), who are being turned off the game. The community needs to make a trailer showcasing the community's work to improve the graphics.
5. The animations, seeing the same four repetitive animations during the trailer has put a lot of the GameTrailers crowd off.
6. The lack of a story. Narrative is increasingly important in modern games, and Mount & Blade lacks one. I know for many people the appeal comes from making your own story, but many people on gametrailers (ie the general gaming market where the money is)  are asking "What's the point?"
7. In the age of casual gaming, accesiblity is more important than ever. Mount & Blade just dumps you in the middle of nowhere right next to some high-level bandits. This could be fixed by bringing back Zendar.
8. The lack of online multiplayer. With multiplayer argurably more important than singleplayer, Ikisoft have wisely ommited any kind of multiplayer features.
This could be fixed by adding arena fights in multiplayer.
9. The publisher. Paradox Interactive is not a household name, it is not even a name in its own household.

So please forumites, lower your expectations, Mount & Blade is not an AAA game and I doubt it will become much more popular than it is today. Here's hoping that M&B 2 gets picked up by a better publisher and gets some money thrown at it.

This Thread deserves to be locked....enough said.

 

[Coenraad]

I think Mount&Blade, will catch the gamers, but not the media. But many publishers *cough* EA *cough*, will copy it and make a there "own" stupid sequel with combo's, potions and other shyte. But of course a it will have good graphics, and will score 10 at gamespot

 

[MrRipYourHeadOff]

2. Lack of arcade elements. I am surprised that Mount&Blade deosn't have more arcade elements. We already have "ImpossiVelcro" which allows you to carry three weapons on your back. Why not have area of effect attacks, or combination moves, instead of those same old 4 strikes? Or even magic?

I wonder how you managed to get to veteran without getting flamed. Seriously, die! DIE! you hear me? die.

Are you some kind of moron? Gaming websites are always more suseptible to advertising pressures than print magazines, as they receive no money from their readers.
Have you heard of Jeff Gerstmann? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamespot#Controversy. Printed media remains more reliable than gaming websites. 

yes, I am a moron. Now die. 
I know I have a ****load of sites to choose from. There are actually some that match my taste in games and who don't get bribed. They're not big portals, but they're rather trustworthy. And apparently, it works even without the bribes - MaB has recieved nice previews.

I think he was being sarcastic. Calm down.