Parting Thoughts
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:38 pm
I have finally lost interest in this game after maybe 5 straight years of playing, adjusting the equipment file, making personal changes to mods/dlcs, etc. It is an excellent game that only shines brighter the more my attempted improvements lead to unintended consequences and worse gameplay. I have never played a game this much in 30+ years of gaming. It is such a tremendous asset I only have two final items for the “Suggestion Box”.
Better Marketing. There should be some more targeted marketing from the company. Marketing usually consists of hiring a firm who knows what they are doing and then letting them do their job. The Youtube videos (magazine reviews, etc.) I have seen, however, do not delve into the true depth of this game. This game is a significant improvement over Panzer General (which really was a silly game) yet no one discusses the many reasons how or why. An inoffensive example of the power (or lack there of) of marketing is a Youtube video I watched when deciding to buy Pike & Shot. The Youtuber did not understand the history or the game (“dragoons.....what are these guys....maybe I’ll try to charge with them.....ha, ha, ha, oops”). He may have had a lot of followers but the game looked completely foolish in his demonstration. Youtube is a great/free resource but Youtubers are making videos for THEMSELVES (to be heard, validated, get clicks, etc.). The company should dedicate someone full time to social media interactions (historical Youtube videos highlighting special game features on battle anniversaries, getting conversations started on game topics, etc.). Communications, videos, etc. from Slitherine are very rarely presented whenever I looked for information on game concepts when they should have, ideally, been the first (due to you hopefully being the experts on it). Sometimes players would ask the company something and the company would respond “Oh, I have not played to that point yet”. That is not very inspiring and can result in lost sales due to lack of energy. You need someone who enjoys strategy games, enjoys learning the rules/employing strategy (rather than simply attacking everything), and is engaging. I know there are new means for social media (Twitch, discord, etc.) but the fundamental principle remains the same. More emphasis needs to be directed towards generating excitement across as large a demographic as possible (from the casual player to the history buff) for every game. You do not have to pretend you had a failed kickstarter so you learned programming one weekend from a book at the library and created a game.... Just get in touch with WW2 aircraft fan clubs if you are making a game about WW2 aircraft, etc. Reaching out and building a rapport with all customers (current and future) should pay for itself in increased sales many times over (how expensive could it be to hire someone to post videos, etc. all day anyway, start with temps or interns until you find someone able to engage the most people......or just get a bot). Something as simple as asking people/fan clubs for their input will make them more likely to purchase the product because they will feel like they have had a role in the development.
Return on Investment You paid for something amazing: an incredibly easy to use game editor. A game editor that people without any computer skills could use to make interesting mods. I think you pay outside people to create these mods but they are really very straightforward and easy to produce (obviously not the Master Pieces like BE, Soviet Storm, etc.). You could have been releasing a mod every few months (this 10 mission mod follows the 3rd Panzer Division, 2nd US Armored Division, etc.) or even once a month (for a little extra revenue or just to generate excitement/test new ideas) while customers waited for the larger DLCs. The fact that people were willing to spend so much money on an immaculately executed 20 year old game concept (even when there are free, not as good, versions available) shows how much revenue there was to be collected (some customers would buy a mod, especially if it was inexpensive, just to have it or to support the developers). How many $2 or $3 10 mission mods could you sell? They would add up. That editor, as well as the game setup itself, could have been used for a whole series of other games within PzC or without (Pike and Shot was made using a WW2 game engine). A few smaller companies (Hunted Cow, HexWar etc.) seemed to do just fine producing small mods delving into different historical periods. Coming up with new graphics/sound efx would be the hardest part but this is still a very minor issue (everything else is already there). The game/editor is so easy to use, configure, and change that not using it for more seems like a significant loss of ROI.
I understand the concept of throwing money into a lot of different gaming projects/marketing and seeing which one does well (and pays for all the others) but lack of a distinctive voice, energy, and ROI can ruin even the most promising projects (while the opposite is true as well).
Better Marketing. There should be some more targeted marketing from the company. Marketing usually consists of hiring a firm who knows what they are doing and then letting them do their job. The Youtube videos (magazine reviews, etc.) I have seen, however, do not delve into the true depth of this game. This game is a significant improvement over Panzer General (which really was a silly game) yet no one discusses the many reasons how or why. An inoffensive example of the power (or lack there of) of marketing is a Youtube video I watched when deciding to buy Pike & Shot. The Youtuber did not understand the history or the game (“dragoons.....what are these guys....maybe I’ll try to charge with them.....ha, ha, ha, oops”). He may have had a lot of followers but the game looked completely foolish in his demonstration. Youtube is a great/free resource but Youtubers are making videos for THEMSELVES (to be heard, validated, get clicks, etc.). The company should dedicate someone full time to social media interactions (historical Youtube videos highlighting special game features on battle anniversaries, getting conversations started on game topics, etc.). Communications, videos, etc. from Slitherine are very rarely presented whenever I looked for information on game concepts when they should have, ideally, been the first (due to you hopefully being the experts on it). Sometimes players would ask the company something and the company would respond “Oh, I have not played to that point yet”. That is not very inspiring and can result in lost sales due to lack of energy. You need someone who enjoys strategy games, enjoys learning the rules/employing strategy (rather than simply attacking everything), and is engaging. I know there are new means for social media (Twitch, discord, etc.) but the fundamental principle remains the same. More emphasis needs to be directed towards generating excitement across as large a demographic as possible (from the casual player to the history buff) for every game. You do not have to pretend you had a failed kickstarter so you learned programming one weekend from a book at the library and created a game.... Just get in touch with WW2 aircraft fan clubs if you are making a game about WW2 aircraft, etc. Reaching out and building a rapport with all customers (current and future) should pay for itself in increased sales many times over (how expensive could it be to hire someone to post videos, etc. all day anyway, start with temps or interns until you find someone able to engage the most people......or just get a bot). Something as simple as asking people/fan clubs for their input will make them more likely to purchase the product because they will feel like they have had a role in the development.
Return on Investment You paid for something amazing: an incredibly easy to use game editor. A game editor that people without any computer skills could use to make interesting mods. I think you pay outside people to create these mods but they are really very straightforward and easy to produce (obviously not the Master Pieces like BE, Soviet Storm, etc.). You could have been releasing a mod every few months (this 10 mission mod follows the 3rd Panzer Division, 2nd US Armored Division, etc.) or even once a month (for a little extra revenue or just to generate excitement/test new ideas) while customers waited for the larger DLCs. The fact that people were willing to spend so much money on an immaculately executed 20 year old game concept (even when there are free, not as good, versions available) shows how much revenue there was to be collected (some customers would buy a mod, especially if it was inexpensive, just to have it or to support the developers). How many $2 or $3 10 mission mods could you sell? They would add up. That editor, as well as the game setup itself, could have been used for a whole series of other games within PzC or without (Pike and Shot was made using a WW2 game engine). A few smaller companies (Hunted Cow, HexWar etc.) seemed to do just fine producing small mods delving into different historical periods. Coming up with new graphics/sound efx would be the hardest part but this is still a very minor issue (everything else is already there). The game/editor is so easy to use, configure, and change that not using it for more seems like a significant loss of ROI.
I understand the concept of throwing money into a lot of different gaming projects/marketing and seeing which one does well (and pays for all the others) but lack of a distinctive voice, energy, and ROI can ruin even the most promising projects (while the opposite is true as well).
