Im an Android user and I'm going to say it, I'm actually disappointed by this. Dont get me wrong I'm immensely pleased they've finally released the Android port but the countdown mechanic suggested (to me at least) they were going to announce something more world changing, something that would have affected the larger community. Trying to inject mystery into it was always going to let a lot of people down, everyone has said its probably going to be the Android release but it could also be this or that. Those people all would be somewhat disappointed. They should just have added "Baldur's Gate is coming to Android in" above the clock.
P.S. Granted I might have been more excited about it if I hadn't been part of the beta with access to the full version for the last week or so.
I really don't get why some people thought that it's going to be IWD:EE or Planescape:Torment in Enhanced Edition. You know, these games would have their own websites dedicated to them, and the countdown was on Baldur's Gate:EE site. It was obviously BG:EE related.
As a note, I'd like to mention that nowadays every company is trying to increase their sales using every possible method. It's the base thing in the marketing.
One of these methods is agiotage. The main purpose of this method is to arouse the desire to purchase – I would even say to create a passion for purchasing. Undoubtedly an emotional aspect is prevalent in this strategy.
A company can set a countdown clock on the site and\or create a mysterious advertisement for its product. A manufacturer has to create reason for discussion: something shocking, something attractive for the buyers. This trick is widespread amongst advanced technological companies. It works superbly.
For i.e., this is what a representative of Kindle says: "Every book we’ve run a Kindle Countdown Deal with so far has seen an increase in sales and some have seen huge increases in sales from the no-marketing Kindle Countdown Deals. On average, we saw a 905% increase in sales (how many books were sold) and a 246% increase in net income (how much money the author made) per hour. In every single Kindle Countdown Deal we’ve run so far, each book saw an increase in number of sales and in revenue. The smallest increase in sales was 153% and the smallest increase in revenue per hour was 33%. Results after the promotion have been incredible as well. As a result of the dramatically improved sales momentum, many books which were not on bestseller lists jumped on the bestsellers lists while other books that were already bestsellers climbed significantly higher on the charts. This lead to continued strong sales at regular prices after the KCD ended. The average increase in sales and net income during the week after the KCD promotion was 73%!"
So, this Baldur's Gate coundown timer was "in the trend" with modern sales, nothing wrong with this method of introducing a new product. Instead, I find it good that Beamdog tries to find new ways of working with customers. And no matter that some people now are "sad" at the result of a countdown, you can't deny it was fun and exciting during these 3 days.
well at least the timer was fun that everyone could enjoy. I'll always remember those days fondly
generally its a good idea not to get excited by such gimmicks as this. Still maybe now the android version Is done we can get some decent new content and fixes for bgEE2
I'm sure Beamdog is glad that this contractual term has been met. It frees them up to do more DLC for the EEs, hopefully. And I would imagine they can now turn their attention to negotiating/forging a contract for BG Next.
Beamdog isn't a huge company and no doubt making the game playable on Android presented quite a coding challenge.
I'm sure there must be Samsung Galaxy users who played BG way back in the day, and their Galaxy is now their only way to play, who will be very happy.
Me, I'm old school. I prefer to sit at a PC with a large monitor and booming surround sound, using a mouse. I've tried playing on the iPad and it's actually kind of cool; but again I prefer a big screen desktop PC experience.
I really don't get why some people thought that it's going to be IWD:EE or Planescape:Torment in Enhanced Edition.
You know that people were just joking around right?...
We were? O.o
Certainly I was when I wrote PSTEE (and frankly most of the thread has been about having a bit of fun, including suggesting a few unlikely ideas, while we waited on the countdown timer)
If they were to actually implement my Wilson-Ursa romance revenge plot, it would TOTALLY merit a countdown
That would actually be pretty awesome. Though if Wilson wanted revenge couldn't he (once in the party) just murder charname in their sleep?
He would be plotting a revenge far worse than simply killing him! He had a dark and mysterious secret benefactor who was enabling his revenge plot, providing him with information about charname and company in order to sabotage his plans. Wilson went along and finally found a way to gain charname's trust and join his party, secretly plotting to obstruct his questing.
But as the plot unfolds he realizes that Ursa had gone mad because someone had poisoned her fish. After further investigation it is revealed that his secret benefactor is actually the head of the Beregost Park Rangers Service, who had poisoned Ursa's fish in order to stop the friendly bear couple from repeatedly stealing the tourists picnic baskets.
Once he discovers this he forgives charname and they embark on a buddy-cop style quest to stop the Fallen Ranger (who was secretly part of the Iron Throne and one of their only remaining members) from poisoning all the fish in Amn with substances that make bears go berserk.
Finally you foil his plot (there is some kinda Bhaal related thing in there, but its not really that interesting) Wilson thanks you and decides to stay with you to honor his blood debt. Now that the fish are healthy and FDA approved, the halfling vendor in the Bridge District of Athkatla is finally able to make a living selling his fish to adventurers. However, his fish are actually super-special fish and serve as healing potions for Wilson.
In his epilogue, Wilson gets married and moves in with a fine-looking grizzly he freed from the pits in Copper Coronet (used as a slave by the beastmaster that was in charge of the arena). They move to the Umar Hills and start a family of cubs that watches over Imnesvale with Madulf the Friendly Ogre. They live happily ever after, and charname visits once in awhile to go fishing in that pond next to Mirella's cabin. He brought honey as a housewarming gift.
I'm sure Beamdog is glad that this contractual term has been met. It frees them up to do more DLC for the EEs, hopefully.
I certainly hope so. It's been a year and a half since this game was released and it's still riddled with bugs. Getting all the contracts done was definitely the first priority for them and now they can focus more on the game.
I'm hoping for the best that more progress is made after this release. I'm sure the income from Google Play will provide more funds for their ongoing BG:EE project.
Comments
P.S. Granted I might have been more excited about it if I hadn't been part of the beta with access to the full version for the last week or so.
One of these methods is agiotage. The main purpose of this method is to arouse the desire to purchase – I would even say to create a passion for purchasing. Undoubtedly an emotional aspect is prevalent in this strategy.
A company can set a countdown clock on the site and\or create a mysterious advertisement for its product. A manufacturer has to create reason for discussion: something shocking, something attractive for the buyers. This trick is widespread amongst advanced technological companies. It works superbly.
For i.e., this is what a representative of Kindle says: "Every book we’ve run a Kindle Countdown Deal with so far has seen an increase in sales and some have seen huge increases in sales from the no-marketing Kindle Countdown Deals. On average, we saw a 905% increase in sales (how many books were sold) and a 246% increase in net income (how much money the author made) per hour. In every single Kindle Countdown Deal we’ve run so far, each book saw an increase in number of sales and in revenue. The smallest increase in sales was 153% and the smallest increase in revenue per hour was 33%. Results after the promotion have been incredible as well. As a result of the dramatically improved sales momentum, many books which were not on bestseller lists jumped on the bestsellers lists while other books that were already bestsellers climbed significantly higher on the charts. This lead to continued strong sales at regular prices after the KCD ended. The average increase in sales and net income during the week after the KCD promotion was 73%!"
So, this Baldur's Gate coundown timer was "in the trend" with modern sales, nothing wrong with this method of introducing a new product. Instead, I find it good that Beamdog tries to find new ways of working with customers. And no matter that some people now are "sad" at the result of a countdown, you can't deny it was fun and exciting during these 3 days.
http://www.webinse.com/blog/ecommerce/create-agiotage-and-sell-more/
http://www.tckpublishing.com/kindle-countdown-deals-show-huge-increase-in-book-sales-for-authors/
http://waynesharer.com/4648/increase-sales-conversions-next-2-minutes/
generally its a good idea not to get excited by such gimmicks as this. Still maybe now the android version Is done we can get some decent new content and fixes for bgEE2
Beamdog isn't a huge company and no doubt making the game playable on Android presented quite a coding challenge.
I'm sure there must be Samsung Galaxy users who played BG way back in the day, and their Galaxy is now their only way to play, who will be very happy.
Me, I'm old school. I prefer to sit at a PC with a large monitor and booming surround sound, using a mouse. I've tried playing on the iPad and it's actually kind of cool; but again I prefer a big screen desktop PC experience.
But as the plot unfolds he realizes that Ursa had gone mad because someone had poisoned her fish. After further investigation it is revealed that his secret benefactor is actually the head of the Beregost Park Rangers Service, who had poisoned Ursa's fish in order to stop the friendly bear couple from repeatedly stealing the tourists picnic baskets.
Once he discovers this he forgives charname and they embark on a buddy-cop style quest to stop the Fallen Ranger (who was secretly part of the Iron Throne and one of their only remaining members) from poisoning all the fish in Amn with substances that make bears go berserk.
Finally you foil his plot (there is some kinda Bhaal related thing in there, but its not really that interesting) Wilson thanks you and decides to stay with you to honor his blood debt. Now that the fish are healthy and FDA approved, the halfling vendor in the Bridge District of Athkatla is finally able to make a living selling his fish to adventurers. However, his fish are actually super-special fish and serve as healing potions for Wilson.
In his epilogue, Wilson gets married and moves in with a fine-looking grizzly he freed from the pits in Copper Coronet (used as a slave by the beastmaster that was in charge of the arena). They move to the Umar Hills and start a family of cubs that watches over Imnesvale with Madulf the Friendly Ogre. They live happily ever after, and charname visits once in awhile to go fishing in that pond next to Mirella's cabin. He brought honey as a housewarming gift.
I'm hoping for the best that more progress is made after this release. I'm sure the income from Google Play will provide more funds for their ongoing BG:EE project.
Oh well, you can't please everyone (*grumble grumble* want Adventure Y *grumble frown*)