The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 by Draginol | Discussion: Personal Computing
I read a news announcement about a new freeware program that does some cool stuff. I check it out and it is vastly superior to an existing freeware program. Yet when I read the comments, the new, superior freeware program is being flamed. Why? Because the guy making it also offers a for-pay version that has more features.
I check out the forums of a game I enjoy playing. Normally people are singing the praises of this game. Now, the forum is full of flaming and angst. Why? Because the developer started offering optional premium content for players if they want.
Let me tell those complainers a truth about life: Money is exchanged for goods and services.
Before the current generation of l33t-speaking complainers became the norm on the net, we had a concept called shareware. Someone would make something cool and offer a version of it to try. This version might time out or it might have fewer features or it might just work on the honor system. If users liked it, they bought it. End of story.
Nowadays, we have it better. People make free stuff and release it. No nags. No missing features when compared to other "free" competitors. No time outs. But the developers will also release an even better version. And the complainers get vocal.
What annoys me is that the whiners are attempting to bully people from making stuff that many people like me want. I don't live with my mom in her basement. I don't begrudge paying a few dollars to someone who made something I want. I recognize that I already pay $80 a month for my cell phone and $60 a month for cable so bitching about paying $9 to $20 for something I want is pretty ridiculous.
And I certainly recognize that the mere existence of premium stuff doesn't hurt me. If I want it, I'll pay for it. If I don't, I won't.
Let me give you two examples:
The program ObjectDock is the best dock out there. We make it so I'm biased but it has far more features than any dock out there. It's also free. You want a cool dock on Windows, this is what you get. But there is also ObjectDock Plus. It's $20 but adds a ton of features like tabbed docks. And so what do people say? They'll say that ObjectDock is "payware" or "crippleware". Why? Because a non-free improved version exists.
Similarly, I love Team Fortress 2. It is a great game. And you know what? If Valve created a new character I could play as for say $10 I'd buy it in an instant. I want more characters in TF2 to play as. But you know the reaction they'd get. They'd probably get flamed because the parasite-class would argue that they should get that for free because buying something once to them means that the developers are perpetual slaves to them after.
I understand that we all want to keep from getting nickled and dimed but one assumes that we can make our own judgments as to whether something is worth it or not and allow others to make the same judgment.
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Reply #82 Saturday, April 26, 2008 10:36 PM
Unfortunately one of the problems in our society today is that the most vocal people are often the most negative. If people can complain they will. If someone is satisfied though then little is heard from them. The thing is the complains end up seeming to outnumber the satisfied ones but I know that is rarely true.
So as a company you need to remember that there is more than one guage of a products success. You gotta learn to ignore the complainers (which isn't easy) and only pay attention those who provide valid constructive criticism.
Having to pay for product or service should be expected, and we should be glad when its free. Too often these days people feel entitled to stuff because so much is given away or there is a false impression it is being given away due to the ease of illegal downloading (just an example).
The companies that strive to provide what the people want are successful, Stardock is proof of that. Those who disagree can go find some other solution that may be free for everything but where to they go when something goes wrong or they want a new feature? Nowhere because they have no voice, money is your voice.
Reply #83 Sunday, April 27, 2008 3:33 AM
What I envy most about Draginol [nick as used here] is his 'privilege of position', aka 'CEO'. A position that has the option to 'speak one's mind' and damn the [commercial] repercussions [if any].
As CEO, customers are HIS. He can use/abuse/misuse to his heart's content, and since 'the buck stops here' with him all is well.
People who are NOT CEO have a duty of care [not to these 'customers', but to the CEO/Employer] to not precipitate any action that might have repercussions.
Over the past 7 years here I've seen much of the same angst-ridden tirades against Stardock's modus opperandi but am rarely afforded the opportunity to just say 'STFU'. Instead there's the traditional time-honoured process of arguing/defending/supporting "the Stardock side" of the coin...and with absolute certainty be labelled a 'Stardock Fanboi' [implying mindless parrotting of blind support of nefarious validity]....
The label 'unprofessional conduct' comes from the same antiquated tenet as 'the customer is always right'. Both are conditional statements open to wild disparities of interpretation. More often than not, 'professional conduct' is something that is not unlawful or legislated against.....otherwise anything is acceptable.
And 'the customer is always of the opinion that he is right' is sadly MORE correct...[maybe someone somewhere just abreviated it one time...and it kinda 'stuck']...
Reply #84 Sunday, April 27, 2008 7:04 AM
You know, the first time I saw this I was surprised that a CEO would do this and thought, he must not care about his customers.
Now I know better, and here's an example of why...show me another CEO that works tech support at 9:15 on a Saturday night.
Reply #85 Sunday, April 27, 2008 1:20 PM
I definitely care about customers. They pay my salary after all. 
But I don't think a customer has the right to tell me what I can and can't say.
I.e. I respect people who buy a product or service based on the merits of that product or service. I have less respect for those who make purchasing decisions based tangential issues (like whether the CEO posts "professionally").
Reply #86 Sunday, April 27, 2008 1:51 PM
...but have no problem paying 5 dollars for a frigin' coffe at Starbucks that only lasts them a half hour...(and you know they buy more than 1 per day). I'm with Brad on this all the way. Nobody's making you buy it so STFU. But everyone has the right to speak their mind, even stupid people.
Reply #87 Sunday, April 27, 2008 1:53 PM
I'd love to put up a module that just changes the United Planets in GalCiv II. Or a module that adds new types of planets or new super abilities or new random events or whatever. But I'm not doing that for free. We'd have to be paid for it. I'd probably ask for $9.95 or something per module. But would we get massively flamed? Probably.
I've been asking you to do this for years! Ever since GCII this has been the biggest disappointment with GC2.
What I'd want for $9.95: (I'd pay $15-$20 though)
Redone UP- I'd be willing to help with ideas.
Redone events systems- have some political events where party matters.
Have the ability to switch political parties either as a bad or good thing in-game
Is this feasible?
Reply #88 Sunday, April 27, 2008 10:37 PM
What I'd want for $9.95: (I'd pay $15-$20 though)
Redone UP- I'd be willing to help with ideas.
Redone events systems- have some political events where party matters.
Have the ability to switch political parties either as a bad or good thing in-game
Is this feasible?
The Redone UP would be a $9.95 type thing and the redone events/political system would be a second $9.95.
Reply #89 Monday, April 28, 2008 12:07 AM
The redone UP would have to be nice though for me to pay $10, but I would if it was quality enough, with serious benefit of doubt given to you guys. The political/event system would be a definite, as that's the one thing that has really stuck in my craw about GC2.
One issue with all this- how would you have compatibility with some things working on some setups and not the others?
Reply #90 Monday, April 28, 2008 12:11 AM
The Redone UP would be a $9.95 type thing and the redone events/political system would be a second $9.95.
If it was done well (and I've no reason at all to think it wouldn't be) I'd buy both of those. I maintain that the best way to prove your point that micro-transactions can provide real quality upgrades for customers is to make some good ones yourself.
Reply #91 Monday, April 28, 2008 1:26 AM
I don't know. Sometimes, "tangential" issues can be very important. I'm on a permanent boycott of all things EA because I don't like how they do business and I don't like how they treat their employees. And I think that's a perfectly legitimate issue to decide whether or not I buy a company's products.
Plus, there's a simple human issue: if you think someone's a jerk, why should you give them money? I mean, there are other things you can do with your time and money than give it to people that you don't like, even if you think their product is being sold at a fair price. I'm not saying that you're being a jerk, but if someone feels insulted by someone else, there's no reason to expect that this will have no influence over their future buying decisions with regard to products made by said person.
I'm not a pure capitalist, and I don't plan on becoming one in the foreseeable future.
Well, for me, I wouldn't say that either one alone is worth $10. Perhaps together, but I would need to know more about the nature of the "redoing" before being able to pass judgment. I mean, it could be made worse (re: espionage from DL to DA).
That's one of the problems with microtransacted things; it's kinda hard to tell what exactly you're getting.
The other issue is that if you have them separate, they can't interact. You can't have the UP thing mesh with the new political system, because it can't assume that this code exists. Indeed, the latter may not have been designed when the former was written.
It'd be like if HL2:Ep2 was an alternate version of Ep1. Both would stand alone, but neither could build on the other. Granted, the HL episodes are standalones, so the only connection is storyline, but storyline-wise, it's kinda hard to play Ep2 without Ep1 and have the same connection as someone who's played the whole thing.
The great thing about larger expansions is that they all of the features interact with one another properly. It is an integrated whole, not a collection of separate bits that may or may not work together.
Reply #92 Monday, April 28, 2008 8:15 AM
Reply #93 Monday, April 28, 2008 9:10 AM
Reply #94 Monday, April 28, 2008 9:19 AM
But movign out and gettin a job would be a good start too. 
Reply #95 Monday, April 28, 2008 10:55 AM
I'd be interested in this with one caveat: That every couple of module releases, there is some kind of bulk pack of all of them. (At a discount, would be nice, but you can't have everything.
)Here's my think with the paid add-ons (and I've mentioned it else where on here.) In concept, I have no problem with them...but too many places turn them in to what happened to Magic: the Gathering back in the day. Namely, you really got left behind if you didn't constantly funnel money in to the game and buy every single add-on deck. More so, it eventually because a "we don't have anything more to add, but we like the money...so, let's make something up."
Also, as someone mentioned about, eventually it can also "break" the game in that everyone is playing a different version. (Another reason that it's good that GCII doesn't have multiplayer.)
So, yeah - I'm totally cool with paying for add-ons that improve the game...so long as they don't become a cash grab. Given the fact that SD has done so much for free so far, I doubt that this is going to be the case.
Reply #96 Monday, April 28, 2008 2:41 PM
For me, the general things I'm willing to spend extra money on is stuff that improves gameplay, not "horse armor".
GC2 even after TA still has a few warts (minor, and on the bottom, but still warts). Fixing those few warts (which all have been mentioned in this thread already) is something I'm willing to pay for. A really good game, to me, provides about 100hrs of fun. GC2 has surpassed that mark.
Reply #97 Monday, April 28, 2008 5:01 PM
And much cheaper than food, clothing, and shelter
I completely agree with the entire article. As I've said before way to many people these days want everything without doing anything for it.
As for the earlier comments on it, about Brad mistreating customers, I think people are looking at it the wrong way. Although some of the complainers are customers I think the vast majority of the whiners he was referring to in the original post are the ones who make it a point to go around making comments about what trash certain products are just because they cannot get them for free. These are the people that would be happy as hell with the product and be using it on a daily basis if it wasn't for just that one little thing called a pricetag. I mean if you have a problem with the way a product works then fine you have a right to voice your opinion about it but to go around badmouthing a company just because you feel you shouldn't have to pay for their products is just ridiculous.
And as for the customers who buy the products and then later complain I'd say it's about the same. Again if you buy the product and have a valid complaint about the way it works then great speak your mind. But if you buy a product, especially ones that can be used with tons of great free stuff you can find out there, and then later decide to complain because not everything that you can use with it is free well then again you're just being ridiculous.
I've seen tons of different examples out there to compare the whole idea to but here's one I'm surprised I haven't seen.
How many computers have you bought? How many upgrades have you bought for them?
Just because you run to a store and pick up a brand new pc do you then turn around and complain to every manufacturer who made the video card, memory stick, processor, keyboard, mouse, or monitor in your pc that when they put out newer versions of these things that will work with your pc that you should get it for free? Hell do you go to Microsofts website and have a fit you should get the newest OS for free when they put it out?
Basically my own response to those who like to whine about all things with a pricetag would be grow up, get a life, and try doing something with life other than complaining.
Reply #98 Monday, April 28, 2008 8:32 PM
Customers have a right to complain however they wish, but the only valid complaint is to stop buying. I'll complain a lot here because I know Stardock will listen, and they improve their products frequently enough for the product to not depreciate rapidly, and sometimes even appreciate with age.
Reply #99 Monday, April 28, 2008 8:57 PM
OD = free and OK
OD Plus = OD + a much better Tab Launchpad = Uber L33t and worth the money . A capable replacement to Taskbar.
They are two different applications.
If you flame Brad for this pricing model, don't count for any help from me. I'm happily using OD+ for all my application launching needs. for $20 it's one of the best little applications.
Reply #100 Monday, April 28, 2008 9:26 PM
you rock brother....with you all the way @ DraginolPlease login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
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Reply #81 Saturday, April 26, 2008 4:35 AM