[April Fool] AGS to become shareware

[LGM]

I registered too.. But I only have 3 bucks in my PayPal account.. I hope that's enough for a dear ol' friend such as myself who is getting his teeth pulled in an hour..

Long live CJ and AGS

[Layabout]

Cj, do you accept 5 cases of all aussie Fosters Lager as payment?

[Shattered Sponge]

To everybody who's saying this might be a prank....  No body would make a joke like this. First of all, it's not even funny. Second, I don't think April Fools Day is even a holiday in England, because it was invented in America in the 70's. Mark my words... you'll be sorry for claiming this is just a joke.

The man from Gamera is correct; they tried to launch April Fool's day as a holiday over here in the UK, but it just didn't work.  We simply aren't going to set a whole day aside to celebrate something if it doesn't involve burning the effigy of a man who was horrifically tortured, or something along those lines.  What kind of idiots do you take us for?

Besides, it's half-four in England now; if this was an April Fool's joke, CJ would have posted at twelve to tell us - anyone who continues or participates in the continuation of an April Fool's after this time is a fool themselves, remember?

...

Waitasec...

[SSH]

Flippy, you really should know better than to double-post by now. n00b!  

I have signed up and got my unique ID, but the dialog box to enter the registration code seems to crash as soon as I type anything. I am using  Windows 2000 SP3...

Hopefully this influx of cash will let CJ quit his day job and work on AGS full time! 3d support soon...

For those who are skeptical (becuase of those jokes on the registration page):

Spoiler

It's not a joke, becuase I phoned my credit card company and they confirmed the debit

wtb
loo
flir
pastiy
asuoy
fist
sop
set
eled
AGA

[close]

[Raggit]

Wow.  I don't know what to say.  Of course CJ deserves the money.  After all the work and time he's put into AGS and then just to let us have it free.  He definatly deserves the cash.

This isn't really a problem for me cause I've been using the same version of AGS for, like, over a year now, and I'm comfortable with it.   But I'd really hate to see a seperate and private forum set up for the registered users.  

What about our faithfull users whose parents refuse to let them register?

---edit---

I was reading over the registration page and am I to understand that I can't release a game without regestering?  Even if I'm using an older version of AGS?

[TerranRich]

Well, it's a long time in coming. I have my debit card here, ready to splurge for the cost of purchasing AGS. It's about time, too, because By the Sword is nearly completed, ready to sell. All I have to do is burn the game onto CD-ROM and I will only charge $4.95 USD for it. This cost to register AGS is nothing compared to the joy I will feel once I have a legal version of it.

So, be prepared for the release of BTS in a few days (!), and CJ, once again, it's about time, and keep up the good work! Now you'll finally be financially motivated to get up off your lazy ass and upgrade AGS more often, you motionless twit.

[Broomie]

Heck I'll just make my own Adventure Game Engine... I'll call it AGS2.....




.........can someone gimme some pointers?

Interested though, what does the new *bloody expensive* AGS have to offer? I can't be toddled to look through the thread incase he mentioned it.

BTW, don't do an Erpy and lose respect over something like this, only to regain it once the truth has been told and everyone is happy and get there 100 dollars back. Hold on, please do an Erpy!  

[mätzyboy]

Man! My first thought when reading Chris' first post was: "This Aprils-fools joke was a bit over the edge." I felt my stomach tingle in the same way as if I'd look over the edge of a cliff or a tall building. But still, since the post WAS made on the 1st of April at exactly 00.00 hours it had to be so...

But you guys here have made me hesitate. It seems to be true. AGS is becoming shareware.

It makes me sad. This is a place where I have been lurking around for at least three years. I know I have not been posting much, merely reading and learning, but still this community and all the people around it has become something I admire. The freedom and friendlyness people interested in computers so often try to achieve has actually dwelled right here. The work put into this engine is immense and has been driven by one man's interest in program developing and overcoming challenges. Work to which gratitude is shown every day right here on the forums.

I believe putting a fee on the use of AGS is equivalent to killing the community. The playfulness and joy will fade in the shadow of money. Believing that this kind of amateur games will start paying themselves is nothing but hubris. The fun of making a silly game and present it to the world will be exchanged with greed.

Some AGS users are excellent game makers. Their games might actually make money when finished. Most are not. Most are happy amateurs. I believe that charging a fee when AGS is used for commercial purposes is fair. In fact I have always wondered why no money was asked for in the case that someone would want to sell ag game made with AGS. A company/person interested in making money when producing a game is also capable of making a budget in which the purchase of a commercial licence for AGS is covered.

For the amateur game producer I believe other financing solutions, if money is the only way of keeping this going, are better. Ads in the editor is an alternative aswell as on the AGS site. A non-commercial version at a much lower price is reasonable. Even a slightly less advanced editor at a lower cost with no commercial licence might also be an idea. Or to just stop developing AGS any further and leave enhancements to volunteering plug-in programmers with more spare time. Or, dare I say, let the code go? Let new AGS versions evolve from this wonderful base by people with a burning will to go on. (I can see this option being somewhat risky...)

I'm a proud member of the AGS community. I'm proud to recently having presented my first game here on the forums. I'm glad I could do this while the engine still was free. I sincerely hope my first stomach tingeling was right, this is all a joke. If not I beg Chris to rethink. It sure would be sad to see this beautiful community die.

**EDIT**
All the hard language and anger being displayed here, both from people in favour of and from people against going shareware, is in itself a sad pointer in the direction I'm talking about...  :'(

[Minimi]

Hi there!

I must have overlooked this thread, but I will now respond, and have some questions to be answered (because ill probably pay the $100)

MP3 Support?
When we pay for the next versions, do you have the mp3 license with it, or do you have to pay for that besides?

Commercial games with earlier versions?
Will I still be allowed to go commercial with an earlier version of AGS?

CD case?
When I buy something, I'd like to have a original cd, of something, so will you send them to the homes, or is it an instant-download? Also... please don't let it leak onto kazaa! Like said before... it would be ashamed, and not fair, in comparing to me spending serious money on it.

I just hope that this community will stay together, and as fun as it has been!

edit : I'm beginning to doubt weither this is really true, or just a 1st april joke. Well I'll see

[Nellie]

I thought this was a joke until I saw the credit card details form on the second register page.

I have to say I'm disappointed.  I've been working on my game for a long time, and now I discover I won't be able to release it without paying 60 quid??  Well I'm not going to pay such a ridiculous amount of money for something like AGS.  We've already seen what AGAST and SLUDGE are capable of, and there's a SCRAMM game coming out in a couple of weeks, and all three of those engines are still free, so why should anyone pay for this?

I'm just annoyed that you strung everyone along for so long, making us learn how to use the program, the language, design everything specifically to fit AGS, and now those of us who can't or won't pay have to start all over again with a new engine.  Well thanks a lot, I don't think.

[rtf]

We've already seen what AGAST and SLUDGE are capable of, and there's a SCRAMM game coming out in a couple of weeks, and all three of those engines are still free

I'm pretty sure that SLUDGE is shareware.  You can make games, but in order to distribute and add a finishing touch to them you need to purchase the development kit.

But it's the best choice- AGAST is so damn complicated!  What's this var thing?  Makes no sense at all.

OUr only choice is to somehow find the source code for AGS, and to rebrand it to something else.

BTW, my shareware counter never updated, but it could just be false hope  

[TheDude]

I'll never pay for AGS unless it takes some HUGE strides forward in terms of features. I'll be sticking to 2.6 SP1 for the rest of AGS's days unless it implements something worthy of that rediculous price tag! 3d characters would be the size of feature i'm talking about...

mat sums up the rest...

Man! My first thought when reading Chris' first post was: "This Aprils-fools joke was a bit over the edge." I felt my stomach tingle in the same way as if I'd look over the edge of a cliff or a tall building. But still, since the post WAS made on the 1st of April at exactly 00.00 hours it had to be so...

But you guys here have made me hesitate. It seems to be true. AGS is becoming shareware.

It makes me sad. This is a place where I have been lurking around for at least three years. I know I have not been posting much, merely reading and learning, but still this community and all the people around it has become something I admire. The freedom and friendlyness people interested in computers so often try to achieve has actually dwelled right here. The work put into this engine is immense and has been driven by one man's interest in program developing and overcoming challenges. Work to which gratitude is shown every day right here on the forums.

I believe putting a fee on the use of AGS is equivalent to killing the community. The playfulness and joy will fade in the shadow of money. Believing that this kind of amateur games will start paying themselves is nothing but hubris. The fun of making a silly game and present it to the world will be exchanged with greed.

Some AGS users are excellent game makers. Their games might actually make money when finished. Most are not. Most are happy amateurs. I believe that charging a fee when AGS is used for commercial purposes is fair. In fact I have always wondered why no money was asked for in the case that someone would want to sell ag game made with AGS. A company/person interested in making money when producing a game is also capable of making a budget in which the purchase of a commercial licence for AGS is covered.

For the amateur game producer I believe other financing solutions, if money is the only way of keeping this going, are better. Ads in the editor is an alternative aswell as on the AGS site. A non-commercial version at a much lower price is reasonable. Even a slightly less advanced editor at a lower cost with no commercial licence might also be an idea. Or to just stop developing AGS any further and leave enhancements to volunteering plug-in programmers with more spare time. Or, dare I say, let the code go? Let new AGS versions evolve from this wonderful base by people with a burning will to go on. (I can see this option being somewhat risky...)

I'm a proud member of the AGS community. I'm proud to recently having presented my first game here on the forums. I'm glad I could do this while the engine still was free. I sincerely hope my first stomach tingeling was right, this is all a joke. If not I beg Chris to rethink. It sure would be sad to see this beautiful community die.

[Czar]

Yeah, I have registered, but I put a rounded up sum of 589 $ just in case.
Is that ok?
And finally, the Make my game function is working...
Pumaman, you're a star.


And OT i was thinking for real how would a sharewaring really alienate a large part of the users... You know, it just wouldnt be teh same...

[Pumaman]

Ok, well just in case any of you didn't get it, may I just say:

APRIL FOOL!

Thanks to those of you who played along to make it more believable

By the way, if any of you pressed the Register button and the penny still didn't drop when confronted by the "Oops" message, consider yourself gullible.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

ARRRRGH! WORST SCARE OF MY LIFE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, CJ!


...


<sigh of relief>

[Domino]

I thought it might have been a joke, but then after reading the other threads i thought it was true.

Thank goodness.



i mean, i would pay something, just not $100

[mätzyboy]

*Enormous sigh of relief*

Finally you broke the scilence! Thanks! I thought the atmosphere was getting rather tense in here!!

[Darth Mandarb]

All my posts got deleted!

I guess I was too obvious

Great joke!

I must admit, that at first I fell for it, until I saw the form.  I submitted it anyway, and then was positive.  Then, when my posts started disappearing I knew for sure!

The funny thing is I went right to give you the 100 bux!

~ d

[Totoro @ friend's house]

I am not surprised, since once there were a group of British guys who developed a joke about a joke which could kill German soldiers during the war  

[rtf]

By the way, if any of you pressed the Register button and the penny still didn't drop when confronted by the "Oops" message, consider yourself gullible.

Gullible.

I feel guilty now.  I should give you money.

BUt it's the thought that counts  :o