Stardock Customer Report: 2011
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 by Frogboy | Discussion: Elemental Dev Journals
We have completed our annual customer report for last year. Each year we send out a survey to our customer base asking them a host of questions so that we can better serve them.
In exchange, we share the results of these surveys along with a report on what went right and wrong the previous year along with plans for the forthcoming year.
We are pleased to present you the full report here: https://www.stardock.com/press/CustomerReports/Stardock2011.pdf
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Reply #22 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:19 PM
Was actually hoping it was going to be droid, Xbox would be probably the easier transition code wise, but from some of the other content looks like apple maybe.... My phone has a 1 Ghz dual core processor, and it's "out of date", we're not that far from having a device that fits in our pocket that has the power to run a modern PC game.
Reply #24 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:27 PM
Quoting lambdaman, reply 20
Too bad, I'd love to play FE on my tablet .
Good tablet + good remote desktop app = FE on my tablet. Works pretty well.
Really? I tried with RDP from the laptop to the desktop but there was a bit too much lag.
Reply #25 Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:22 AM
Wow, slight mauling of Windows 8. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised.
Reply #26 Thursday, March 22, 2012 5:58 AM
As far as investments go, if Stardock was publicly traded I would be an investor.
The upcoming new platform announcement is intriguing. I suspect it's iOS, which has absolutely no importance to me as a consumer, but I'd like it if I was an investor.
Windows 8 probably won't be great, but so it goes.
Reply #27 Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:03 AM
Quoting Bellack,
reply 4
Read the review. That picture in the FE section where is this 'Gildenarena' I have never seen this in game. Is this something comming out in a future beta release. Looks like a pretty cool tactical battles map.
It's a quest that's only accessible after you get the 3rd(?) quest tech. On the main map, it shows up as a coliseum that takes up the entirety of the tile.
Ah well I never get the 3rd quest tech.
Reply #28 Thursday, March 22, 2012 9:07 AM
Kudos! I really don't get phone gaming either. I mean, sure a little Angry Birds while you're sitting around at work is okay...but that should comprise less than 1% of any respectable gamer's playtime.
Reply #29 Thursday, March 22, 2012 9:15 AM
I wonder how many people have been around long enough to remember Stardock in the old days?
Not too many privately owned tech companies these days of significant sized controlled by 1 guy (facebook is one ironically).
I still remember you from csipgs. That old school enough for ya?
Reply #30 Thursday, March 22, 2012 2:59 PM
Quoting Lord Xia, reply 17What is android, is that phone shit? Are phone games comparable to console and PC games? I don't own a phone worth a shit, and don't ever plan on using a phone for anything other than a phone...I'm just a cranky old man.
Kudos! I really don't get phone gaming either. I mean, sure a little Angry Birds while you're sitting around at work is okay...but that should comprise less than 1% of any respectable gamer's playtime.
Agreed, but then you have to realize that 99% of people aren't "respectable gamers" 
There's certainly a market out there for smart phone and tablet games, it's just that we (and probably anyone who plays games like Elemental or Sins) aren't it.
Reply #31 Friday, March 23, 2012 5:40 AM
Interesting to see the large number of Android users over iOS.
Phone gaming is not really gaming, it is just something you do to occupy your mind while something boring happens irl. As long as the only control method is to poke the screen we wont have anything worth mentioning other than silly puzzle games.
Reply #32 Friday, March 23, 2012 6:09 AM
Reply #33 Saturday, March 24, 2012 7:00 AM
Quoting Lord Reliant, reply 8Some interesting info, but I'd love to see the questions asked in the survey to be an even better swath of questions. It's mostly demographic info and buying trends. I'd love to see stuff about ideas/suggestions, ways to improve the existing survey, other technologies Stardock should be exploring, etc. Stardock has some pretty savvy tech users- crowd-source them and ask them though/difficult/interesting questions.
Good Suggestion! I second it.
(It would also be interesting to know what percentage, of the 4 million people who received the survey, responded to it. Potentially, there is some real "power in numbers" here!)
I never even got the survey this year for some reason.
Quoting Frogboy, reply 16I'm not inclined to invest in Android development.
Tasunke breathes a sigh of relief.
Seriously though, it is possible that the Android bubble has already begun to pop, and that the momentum will shift to the next mobile device shortly.
My advice would be to either lottery pick one of the new up and coming mobile devices, or stick with a solid Console like Xbox or Playstation.
I don't think consoles have a long future either. The business model is becoming unworkable for all but the very large or very small.
Reply #34 Monday, March 26, 2012 4:07 AM
The digital distribution chart worries me. I don't trust Gamestop, EA is worse, everyone loves Steam but it won't let you play anything without asking for Valve's permission... Am I still going to be able to buy games in the future? It's starting to feel like no one wants me as a customer anymore.
Reply #35 Monday, March 26, 2012 5:02 AM
Gamersgate.com is a good option that I use quite a bit.
Reply #37 Monday, March 26, 2012 11:55 PM
Gamersgate.com is a good option that I use quite a bit.
I've actually been using Desura lately, as several of the Humble Bundles came with keys for it. No DRM, no need to run anything in the background, easy to find updates... They only seem to have old and/or small indie stuff, though. I love indie games and classics, but I also like the occasional big AAA title, and it looks like all of those are being tied to Steam or an even more restrictive service.
Then again, it's been a while since I've seen a AAA title I was actually interested in...
Reply #38 Tuesday, March 27, 2012 12:55 AM
Well WE love you. 
Reply #39 Tuesday, March 27, 2012 2:05 AM
What I gotted from the survey:
2008: Steam had 10% of the DD market - Small player.
2009: Steam had 18% of the DD market - Still small.
2010: Steam had 30% of the DD market - A normal player.
2011: Steam had 50% of the DD market - The main player in the DD market.
Male/female ratio: Kinda proves that women don't like real games. Guess they're playing farmville and stuff....
Would seem to prove that they aren't interested in skinning and organizingsoftware but I believe that they simply don't know that it exists until some guy or website points it out to them.
Reply #40 Tuesday, March 27, 2012 3:08 AM
Quoting Jalicos, reply 34The digital distribution chart worries me. I don't trust Gamestop, EA is worse, everyone loves Steam but it won't let you play anything without asking for Valve's permission... Am I still going to be able to buy games in the future? It's starting to feel like no one wants me as a customer anymore.
Gamersgate.com is a good option that I use quite a bit.
Gamersgate, GOG, and Desura are all solid options- but I preferred Impulse.
I don't like the direction Gamestop went with Impulse- I felt under Stardock, that Impulse did a great job getting the little guys on the service. I can think of two games I really enjoyed that I discovered through Impulse, but never got onto Steam, and never will.
Maybe this new direction will work for Gamestop, but it's clear that it didn't work for Impulse's old customers.
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Reply #21 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:17 PM
First of all, none of the consoles / mobile devices are well suited to playing the kind of games that Stardock makes.
Secondly, its a huge investment to switch since none of the consoles use standard development kits/languages. If you want someone to blame for this, point fingers at Microsoft, Sony, Apple, and Google.