Oleg, what about SoW and DLC?

[BigC208]

I don't mind downloading software. As long as I can also burn it to disk or order a hardcopy. Don't mind downloading updates but do not accept constant online requirement to be able to play.

When RoF came out I passed gracfully. Once they did away with the constant online requirement I bought the Iron Cross edition. Probably spend over $100 on the game so far. They have sales every now and then. Paying 3 or 4 bucks is not a bad deal. Paid $11 for the HP400. Compared to what the FSX addons go for not too bad. Besides, you don't have to buy it. The basic plane package is enough to keep most of us happy for a while.

Still I don't think the RoF route is the best to go for SoW. Too many fronts. Much better to stick with theater addons they can charge$50-$60 for with 5-10 flyable planes. That way the less popular historical planes still get some attention.

Demanding free content that we got at the beginning of Il2 is commercial suicide. The only free downloads I demand are bug fixes. Charge me a fair price and stay in bussiness to support and expand the SoW series.

[Blackdog_kt]

I agree as well.

Also,

Originally Posted by robtek

As much as i want OM to get a tidy profit out of his project, as much i am opposed to DLC!!!
I believe the il2-solution to sell additional upgrades/mission-packs with the necessary planes
and ground-models is perfect, as it guarantees that online, everybody has the same game when
flying in a war-theater.
Also everybody has the choice if he is interested in a theater to buy it or not.
Unlimited freedom of choice is not always a good thing.
Further i believe that the use of steam as a ADDITIONAL distribution path is great, but i want
to hold my game, with some additional material (maps, badges or something else), in my hands.

I think freedom of choice is good, but i agree on the rest. What if i am forced to sit out three missions in a row on a server because i didn't buy the DLC planes that are being used in the mission? What if a battle of France mission can't progress at all and we are all forced to sit it out for 3 boring hours waiting for the timer to expire, because everyone bought the hot-rod fighters and nobody bought the lowly Fairey Battles to actually do the ground pounding with?

Itemized content sales are good for different gaming genres. For games that want to emulate reality and depict history in a somewhat accurate fashion, selling expansions that contain an entire theater is a much better course of action for the reasons robtek stated.


In short, i don't demand freebies. I just think that itemized, single-aircraft downloads will seriously diminish variety in the online matches and hurt the overall gameplay quality and compatibility between players (even if they still can join in the mission without having the DLC plane, they can't fly it and are restricted), possibly even the historical accuracy of the experience as a whole. Mission builders can't or won't build realistic or interesting missions if nobody buys the "crap plane" that was used on the original operation, or it's not even available as AI.

Last time i checked up on RoF a few months ago, it still spawned 1917 aircraft types as opponents to the player's 1916 aircraft because they didn't have enough types (even as AI only) to adequately cover earlier scenarios. And that's another pitfall right here, itemized DLC sales provide enough of an incentive to dev studios to focus on providing flyable aircraft only (since they are the ones that can be expected to be payware), even if non-flyables and AI units are sorely needed to flesh out the sim's historical context and game world.


Look at a vanilla IL2 install and open up the FMB. Don't look at the flyable stuff, look at the rest of the aircraft, the AI ground units, the static objects. These are the tools the mission builder needs to create a living, breathing, accurate and interesting world for the rest of us to fly into. Not to mention that with SoW's rumored built-in modding support, the more AI units we have the more chance of someone in the community making it player-driven at some point: better gameplay for us, extra added value for the game (and thus, for Oleg's team as well), everyone wins.
If all we had was the flyables and only a handful of AI IL2 would have died off ages ago.

This is definitely not what i expect of SoW and i'm very glad that OM himself has said that piecemeal DLC is not a good business model for flight sims.
Sure, charge me enough to help the devs turn a profit, i'll gladly pay full game price for any subsequent expansion, i'm obviously not opposed to these guys getting paid for their countless hours of work.

I just want a nice box with maybe a collectible item inside like the old games (or a real manual) and a more or less complete theater right out of the box, instead of counting nickels and dimes and trying to choose which plane i will buy depending on what's used on the servers i like to fly on, or waiting for DLC to go on a reduced price promo sale. Pop the disk in the drive, install, start it up and go fly the entire theater with all its different missions and tactically varied operations, instead of just three aircraftagainst the same three opponents doing the same thing every single mission

[SlipBall]

I'm sure that Oleg has a business plan all ready for SOW. I don't think that he requires our financial advice.